Publication Items

Covering Wildfire — Expert Advice on Emerging Issues, Recurring Risks [1]

With wildfires becoming more extreme in every way, reporters covering them face new challenges along with familiar hazards. A pair of experienced wildfire journalists and others on the front lines offer advice on dealing with access restrictions, on-the-ground dangers, toxic exposure risks and traumatized survivors — as climate change speeds up the news cycle and misinformation muddies the reporting landscape.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Disasters [4]
Forests [5]
Government [6]
Health [7]
Infrastructure [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
People & Population [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Alaska and Hawaii [13]
California [14]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [15]
Northwest (OR WA) [16]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [17]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Covering Wildfire — Expert Advice on Emerging Issues, Recurring Risks [1]
As One Door Shuts on Climate Risk Data, News Outlet Opens Another [19]

Even as U.S. government agencies rush to wipe climate change information (or even the mention of the word climate) from their websites, others are racing to reconstruct lost data elsewhere. Case in point is a rescued database on climate risks preserved by The Guardian. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox has more on the preserved database and how best to use it.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [20]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Disasters [4]
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Politics [22]
Government [6]
Journalism & Media [9]
Policy [23]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about As One Door Shuts on Climate Risk Data, News Outlet Opens Another [19]
#SEJ2025 — Confronting the Past, Surviving the Future [24]

Next week, hundreds of environmental journalists are expected to gather in Arizona for #SEJ2025, the Society of Environmental Journalists’ expansive annual conference. Co-chair Kendal Blust has highlights of the four-day event, plus how the challenges facing the Southwest are those of communities across the United States, and why now is a critical time for journalists to come together. Read her rundown [24] and register now [25], before the April 16 midnight deadline.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [26]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [27]
Biodiversity [28]
Climate Change [3]
Energy & Fuel [29]
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Justice [30]
Environmental Politics [22]
Fish & Fisheries [31]
Food [32]
Government [6]
Health [7]
Journalism & Media [9]
Natural Resources [33]
People & Population [11]
Planning & Growth [34]
Policy [23]
Pollution [35]
Science [36]
Water & Oceans [37]
Wildlife [38]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [17]
International [39]
Mexico [40]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about #SEJ2025 — Confronting the Past, Surviving the Future [24]
With Scientific Research Under Attack, Journalists Must Up Their Game [41]

The Trump administration’s offensive against evidence-based research is making clear, accurate reporting on science more important than ever — because people who understand how scientific research works and what it tells us are less likely to be duped by misinformation or pseudoscience. SciLine director Matt DeRienzo on the challenges of the time and new resources to help journalists understand and explain evidence-based research.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Consumer [42]
Environmental Studies [43]
Government [6]
Health [7]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Pollution [35]
Science [36]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about With Scientific Research Under Attack, Journalists Must Up Their Game [41]
Dam Safety Firings Leave Downstream Residents at Risk [44]

Among the widespread federal firings that look like they’re putting the public increasingly at risk are those that strip away government oversight of dam safety. The latest TipSheet looks at what’s at stake and offers up a dozen story ideas, questions to ask and reporting resources to help environmental journalists spot the dam dangers nearest them.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [45]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [4]
Environmental Politics [22]
Government [6]
Infrastructure [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Policy [23]
Water & Oceans [37]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
California [14]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Dam Safety Firings Leave Downstream Residents at Risk [44]
An Editor’s Eye View to Successful Pitching [46]

The not-so-simple act of pitching story ideas is among the biggest challenges facing freelance environmental reporters. Is the pitch smartly targeted, thoroughly researched, well-crafted? Our new Freelance Files co-editor Marianne Messina spoke to four top-level editors at well-known outlets to get their perspectives on making a successful pitch. Learn why outlets need you, what they look for and how to avoid basic mistakes.

SEJ Publication Types:
Freelance Files [47]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
International [39]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about An Editor’s Eye View to Successful Pitching [46]
Follow the Money … for Lobbying State Legislatures [48]

With many states dominated by a few powerful industries — whether oil, mining or agriculture — the influence of campaign dollars can have an outsize effect on legislation, even to the point of corruption, notes the latest Reporter’s Toolbox. So while the U.S. Congress may be languishing, environmental journalists can dig up stories on lobbying at the state level using a powerful data source.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [20]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [49]
Agriculture [27]
Economy & Business [50]
Energy & Fuel [29]
Environmental Politics [22]
Government [6]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Policy [23]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [51]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [52]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [17]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Follow the Money … for Lobbying State Legislatures [48]
Hazardous Risk Reporting Resource at Risk of Trump Blackout [53]

Hazardous sites around the United States are supposed to have disaster plans, which make for a localizable story environmental journalists can tell to help protect their communities. The problem, reports TipSheet, is that a key federal database of these plans may be shut down by the Trump administration. More on the Risk Management Program, efforts to protect the data and how reporters can use it.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [45]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [54]
Disasters [4]
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Politics [22]
Government [6]
Health [7]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Pollution [35]
Waste [55]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Hazardous Risk Reporting Resource at Risk of Trump Blackout [53]
‘A Myriad of Voices’ Tells of Restoring a Swamp in Crisis [56]

When a pair of journalists reported on a degraded Colombian mangrove swamp, they turned to two local fishermen to help tell the story, tapping into their experience as they worked to repair the ecosystem that fed their community. In the latest Inside Story Q&A, reporter Jacobo Patiño Giraldo explains their successful use of primary source solutions journalism.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [57]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [49]
Biodiversity [28]
Environmental Health [21]
Environmental Justice [30]
Fish & Fisheries [31]
Forests [5]
Journalism & Media [9]
Natural Resources [33]
People & Population [11]
Water & Oceans [37]
Region:
International [39]
South America [58]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about ‘A Myriad of Voices’ Tells of Restoring a Swamp in Crisis [56]
Trump Pick To Head Secretive Agency Adept at Stifling Info, Regs [59]

A little-known federal office where some say environmental and other regulations go to die may soon be led by a Trump loyalist best known as an indicted co-conspirator in the plot to overthrow the 2020 election. What is OIRA? And who is Trump’s pick to lead the powerful subagency? WatchDog Opinion has answers and some worrying questions, along with resources for reporters to dig further.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [60]
Topics on the Beat:
Economy & Business [50]
Environmental Politics [22]
Government [6]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Policy [23]
Region:
National (U.S.) [12]
Visibility:
Public [18]
- Read more about Trump Pick To Head Secretive Agency Adept at Stifling Info, Regs [59]

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