Publication Items

Juggling Chainsaws, Torches and Watermelons: How to Manage Multiple Assignments [1]

Environmental journalist Adam Hinterthuer (pictured, estimating the circumference of an old-growth tree) shares in Freelance Files [1] his tips for staying sane while balancing a love of writing with responsibilities as employee, father and husband.

SEJ Publication Types:
Freelance Files [3]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [4]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Juggling Chainsaws, Torches and Watermelons: How to Manage Multiple Assignments [1]
IJNR Institute Inspires Reporters To Get on Their Boots [6]

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [7]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [4]
Region:
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [8]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about IJNR Institute Inspires Reporters To Get on Their Boots [6]
Freedom of Information Sessions at SEJ's 2013 Annual Conference in Chattanooga [9]

On Saturday, October 5: At 9:00 a.m. SEJ FOI Task Force Chair Tim Wheeler of the Baltimore Sun will moderate a session on overcoming obstacles put up by agency press offices to reporters who want to interview government officials. At 10:45 a.m. WatchDog Editor Joe Davis will present a hands-on session with tips for sleuthing dam and levee stories using federal databases like the National Inventory of Dams and the National Levee Database.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Transportation [11]
Planning & Growth [12]
Journalism & Media [4]
Water & Oceans [13]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [14]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Freedom of Information Sessions at SEJ's 2013 Annual Conference in Chattanooga [9]
Calif. Highway Patrol Sort of Backs Down — Questions Remain [15]

SEJ complained in an August 7 letter to CHP that the arrest of Willits News photog Steven Eberhard for attempting to document a protest was a violation of constitutionally guaranteed freedom of the press. CHP responded August 28, noting that its policies for news media access to the Willits highway bypass construction site had changed. However, several assertions in the letter are not true, according to Eberhard and a video of the incident. © Photo by Steve Eberhard: CHP arrests demonstrators Sept. 10, 2013, at the Willits, Calif., bypass construction site.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [16]
Journalism & Media [4]
Region:
California [17]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Calif. Highway Patrol Sort of Backs Down — Questions Remain [15]
12 Tips for Getting Around the Press Office [18]

If you expect nothing from the press office, you will rarely be disappointed. Even getting a callback before your deadline is a major feat. Good stories rarely come from a call to the press office, but there are times when you have to call them. Even public affairs professionals admit that good reporters do their best to circumvent the public affairs people. Try these tips!

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [4]
Government [19]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about 12 Tips for Getting Around the Press Office [18]
Are PAOs a Help or Hindrance? Press Club Debates [20]

Journalists of all stripes heard a panel debate: "Government Public Affairs Offices: More Hindrance Than Help?" August 12, 2013, at the National Press Club, with unsurprising results. The real news may have been presentation of results of a survey conducted by an assistant professor at Kennesaw State University. To risk summarizing in a headline: things are as bad as SEJ members have complained they are.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [4]
Government [19]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Are PAOs a Help or Hindrance? Press Club Debates [20]
SEJ Protests Calif. Highway Patrol's Arrest of Photojournalist [21]

SEJ formally objected to the CHP's July 23, 2013, arrest of Willits News' Steve Eberhard for covering an environmental protest of highway bypass construction, saying the arrest is "unacceptable" and "directly contravenes the right to gather news that derives from the First Amendment."

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [4]
Region:
California [17]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about SEJ Protests Calif. Highway Patrol's Arrest of Photojournalist [21]
Police Arrest California Photog at Highway Protest [22]

If the public can't see it, it didn't happen, right? That seems to be the logic of California officials who arrested a newspaper photographer for covering an environmental protest at the site where a highway overpass was being constructed and protesters had chained themselves to construction equipment.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [4]
Region:
California [17]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Police Arrest California Photog at Highway Protest [22]
If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Guyana (Or Qatar, or France): How One Freelancer Supports a Travel Addiction [23]

Freelancer Erica Gies shares how she has created a "citizen of the world" reporting portfolio, gets paid to travel, and gains perspective on herself, her country and the common problems we all face.

SEJ Publication Types:
Freelance Files [3]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [4]
Transportation [11]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Guyana (Or Qatar, or France): How One Freelancer Supports a Travel Addiction [23]
SEJournal Summer 2013, Vol. 23 No. 2 [24]

In this issue: ESA at 40 — 40 things journalists should know; tangled tale of the endangered wolf; SEJ resources for busy enviro journalists; how one freelancer supports a travel addiction; five book reviews; IJNR institute inspires journalists; watershed tipsheet; and SEJ's 2012 individuals donor list.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJournal Online [25]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [4]
Laws & Regulations [16]
Water & Oceans [13]
Wildlife [26]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about SEJournal Summer 2013, Vol. 23 No. 2 [24]

Pages