Publication Items

The Polar Vortex Portends … the Planting of Seeds? [1]

While extreme cold has made much news this winter, environmental journalists have another way into climate-related stories as spring approaches — through gardening. That’s because this time of year, gardeners are already buying and nursing seeds in readiness for planting. Ideas for reporting the topic, including a government plant hardiness zone map that offers a window into the climate change story, from the latest TipSheet.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [3]
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [5]
Food [6]
Journalism & Media [7]
Science [8]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
International [10]
Canada [11]
Visibility:
Public [12]
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Tracking the Trackers in the Trump 2.0 Onslaught [13]

Keeping up with the Trump administration is tricky, given the speed and volume with which the action is unfolding. But the new Reporter’s Toolbox has a handy list of more than a dozen Trump trackers, watching everything from campaign promises and executive orders to litigation launched against the administration. There’s even a tracker watching his time spent on the golf links.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [14]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Environmental Politics [15]
Government [16]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [17]
Policy [18]
Science [8]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Tracking the Trackers in the Trump 2.0 Onslaught [13]
AI’s Importance in Journalism and Teaching — Part 2 [19]

In Part 2 of a two-part EJ Academy, SEJournal’s Emilia Askari examines changes artificial intelligence is bringing to journalism — among them possibilities for the analysis of data, including on climate and the environment. Plus, ways to use AI tools more effectively and how to track news organizations’ response to and use of AI. Also: Part 1, AI in the classroom [20].

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ Academy [21]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Environmental Studies [22]
Journalism & Media [7]
Science [8]
Technology [23]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
International [10]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about AI’s Importance in Journalism and Teaching — Part 2 [19]
Telling the Stories of the Silent Sentinels [24]

To many, plants are a merely green backdrop, indistinguishable and inconsequential. But, freelancer Karen Mockler says that such “plant blindness” belies an urgent need for our notice. More than a third of the world’s trees and thousands of other plant species face extinction. Their plight — and their many blessings — offer perceptive journalists a wealth of reporting and storytelling opportunities. Mockler on why to write about plants.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [25]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [3]
Air [26]
Biodiversity [27]
Climate Change [4]
Environmental Health [28]
Environmental Justice [29]
Environmental Politics [15]
Environmental Studies [22]
Food [6]
Forests [30]
Government [16]
Health [31]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [17]
Natural Resources [32]
Pollution [33]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [34]
Science [8]
Water & Oceans [35]
Wildlife [36]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
California [37]
Northwest (OR WA) [38]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [39]
International [10]
Canada [11]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Telling the Stories of the Silent Sentinels [24]
To Give a Goldfish Agency — The Joys (and Perils) of Writing on Nonhuman Life [40]

Stories focused on nonhuman animals are a quintessential part of environmental journalism. But how writers approach these stories is evolving, in step with changing views about animal consciousness and agency. Science journalist and author Karen Pinchin explores this trend and talks about anthropomorphism, anthropodenialism, metaphors, language, writing from the perspective of animal protagonists and more.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [25]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [27]
Journalism & Media [7]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [34]
Science [8]
Water & Oceans [35]
Wildlife [36]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
International [10]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about To Give a Goldfish Agency — The Joys (and Perils) of Writing on Nonhuman Life [40]
Trump’s Public Health Agency Picks, Looking Peaked? [41]

Public health is an environmental story (think links between infectious disease and climate change, for example). So Trump administration nominees to head leading U.S. public health agencies — including vaccine skeptics, COVID-19 contrarians and physicians with little public health experience — are a story for environmental journalists to watch closely. The latest EJ TransitionWatch helps with a rundown of five top picks. Plus, the latest health headlines [31] from EJ Today.

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ TransitionWatch [42]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Environmental Politics [15]
Government [16]
Health [31]
People & Population [43]
Policy [18]
Science [8]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Trump’s Public Health Agency Picks, Looking Peaked? [41]
EPA Science Integrity Threatened by House Republicans [44]

The closest thing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has to a press policy is actually its scientific integrity policy. But as WatchDog Opinion writer Joseph Davis writes in the latest EJ TransitionWatch, the EPA’s scientific integrity policy is under direct attack by a powerful congressman. What’s behind the attack? And could the EPA’s science be under assault next?

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ TransitionWatch [42]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [45]
Economy & Business [46]
Environmental Politics [15]
Environmental Studies [22]
Government [16]
Health [31]
Journalism & Media [7]
Policy [18]
Science [8]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about EPA Science Integrity Threatened by House Republicans [44]
The Resilient Sea Turtle, Beset by Threats [47]

Sea turtles are in decline across the globe, victims of coastal development, algal blooms and, perhaps cruelest of all, plastic pollution. Marine biologist Christine Figgener, in a new book part memoir and part field guide, recounts the less than glamorous but rewarding work to spare them extinction, from arduous field work to viral video epiphanies. BookShelf editor Tom Henry reviews “My Life With Sea Turtles.”

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [48]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [27]
Climate Change [4]
Environmental Health [28]
Environmental Studies [22]
Fish & Fisheries [49]
Pollution [33]
Science [8]
Water & Oceans [35]
Wildlife [36]
Region:
International [10]
Central America & the Caribbean [50]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about The Resilient Sea Turtle, Beset by Threats [47]
Will Trump ‘Disappear’ Environment, Climate Data? [51]

Might the incoming Trump administration attempt to blot out any data that undermines his environmental policies, especially around global warming? Many recall, for instance, the 2017 disappearing of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s informative climate change web pages. The new EJ TransitionWatch column explores the concern and offers a heartening assessment of the prospects of preserving these archives of essential information.

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ TransitionWatch [42]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Environmental Politics [15]
Environmental Studies [22]
Government [16]
Policy [18]
Science [8]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Will Trump ‘Disappear’ Environment, Climate Data? [51]
Is Fluoride Facing Phaseout in Your Community’s Drinking Water? [52]

Fluoridated drinking water has helped limit tooth decay in the United States for decades. But that could come to an end in the Trump administration, if fluoride nonfan Robert F. Kennedy Jr., slated to head Health and Human Services, has his way. In the first installment of SEJournal’s new weekly EJ TransitionWatch column, we examine the challenge to this public health success story. Plus, questions to ask and resources for your reporting.

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ TransitionWatch [42]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [53]
Chemicals [45]
Consumer [5]
Environmental Politics [15]
Government [16]
Health [31]
Infrastructure [54]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [17]
People & Population [43]
Policy [18]
Science [8]
Water & Oceans [35]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
Visibility:
Public [12]
- Read more about Is Fluoride Facing Phaseout in Your Community’s Drinking Water? [52]

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