Publication Items

COP28 Will Be Earth-Shaping News in 2024 and Beyond [1]

When nations converge this fall for the latest round of annual talks on harnessing climate change, they meet at a crucial juncture. Will the increasingly dramatic impacts of global warming, and the prospects of worse, focus their attention enough to bring about progress? In this sweeping analysis, Backgrounder assesses the varied pressures at play at the coming COP28, along with tips for covering it, from up close or afar.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Politics [6]
Environmental Studies [7]
Government [8]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Policy [11]
Science [12]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
International [14]
Canada [15]
Africa [16]
Asia [17]
Europe [18]
Middle East [19]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about COP28 Will Be Earth-Shaping News in 2024 and Beyond [1]
Top Data Sources Can Help Cover the Larger Wildfire Story [21]

In the aftermath of breaking wildfire news, when environmental journalists are looking to tell the bigger picture story, there are myriad resources that provide data and insight. To help you sort through it all, the latest Reporter’s Toolbox scans eight powerful data portals that provide everything from real-time tracking and satellite data to risk analysis and health impacts.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [22]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [23]
Climate Change [3]
Disasters [24]
Environmental Health [5]
Forests [25]
Government [8]
Health [26]
Journalism & Media [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Top Data Sources Can Help Cover the Larger Wildfire Story [21]
Waste Incineration May Put Toxics Into Local Air [27]

Sometimes on the environment beat, what seems like an old story is perpetually new again. That’s the case with waste incineration, finds the latest TipSheet. Rather than being reduced, incinerators are just being transformed, with the ongoing burning of plastics especially troubling for the environment and public health. Get the backstory on where the regulatory regime may have holes, plus key reporting angles and story ideas.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [28]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [29]
Air [23]
Chemicals [30]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [31]
Environmental Politics [6]
Health [26]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Pollution [32]
Waste [33]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Waste Incineration May Put Toxics Into Local Air [27]
Data on Pesticide Incidents Openly Available for First Time [34]

A decade’s worth of government pesticide data — only available before through FOIA — has been made newly available. And, explains the latest Reporter’s Toolbox, it can lead to revealing environmental, public health and environmental justice stories. More on how the data came to be compiled and advice on using it smartly, along with some caveats.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [22]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [35]
Chemicals [30]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [31]
Food [36]
Health [26]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Pollution [32]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Data on Pesticide Incidents Openly Available for First Time [34]
Missouri, Florida Journalism Professors Join Classes on Multistate Fertilizer Investigation [37]

What brought together two teams of student reporters, half a dozen states and 1,000 miles apart? For one, the high environmental cost of chemical fertilizer. For another, a pair of dedicated journalism teachers. Cynthia Barnett and Sara Shipley Hiles share how they took the project from daydream to reality, brought students into the field and got pickup from numerous news outlets, in the latest EJ Academy.

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ Academy [38]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [35]
Chemicals [30]
Economy & Business [39]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [31]
Environmental Studies [7]
Fish & Fisheries [40]
Food [36]
Journalism & Media [9]
Pollution [32]
Water & Oceans [41]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [42]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [43]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [44]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Missouri, Florida Journalism Professors Join Classes on Multistate Fertilizer Investigation [37]
Painful Process Underway of Regulating PFAS in Drinking Water [45]

Long-growing concern over dangerous “forever” chemicals has drawn the attention of federal and state policymakers, local communities and the utilities that provide their drinking water. But little about regulating PFAS will be quick or easy, making it a major environmental and public health story for years to come. Issue Backgrounder unfolds the regulatory moves, the politics and the larger implications of PFAS policy.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [30]
Consumer [46]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Politics [6]
Government [8]
Health [26]
Infrastructure [47]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Pollution [32]
Water & Oceans [41]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Painful Process Underway of Regulating PFAS in Drinking Water [45]
The Spread of Harmful Algal Blooms Makes News in Multitude of Locales [48]

As algal blooms (think “red tides” or “dead zones”) grow larger and more frequent, they are emerging not just on the coasts and major estuaries, but in inland lakes and streams. And they cause all kinds of harm, to humans and to the environment. The latest TipSheet has details on how to cover the problem locally, including story ideas and reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [28]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [35]
Climate Change [3]
Environmental Health [5]
Fish & Fisheries [40]
Health [26]
Journalism & Media [9]
Pollution [32]
Water & Oceans [41]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [42]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [43]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [44]
International [14]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about The Spread of Harmful Algal Blooms Makes News in Multitude of Locales [48]
Uncovering the Environmental Impacts of a Controversial Water Project [49]

Months spent gathering thousands of documents and talking to local residents led reporter Dheeraj Mishra to uncover the negative environmental impacts of a major hydro project in a water-scarce region of India. And his resulting investigative reporting got him noticed in the 2022 Society of Environmental Journalists’ 2022 awards contest. Mishra shares his insights in the new Inside Story Q&A.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [50]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [31]
Environmental Politics [6]
Government [8]
Infrastructure [47]
Journalism & Media [9]
Natural Resources [51]
People & Population [52]
Planning & Growth [53]
Policy [11]
Pollution [32]
Water & Oceans [41]
Region:
International [14]
Asia [17]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Uncovering the Environmental Impacts of a Controversial Water Project [49]
Expert Advice Helps Journalists Navigate Unfamiliar Scientific Seas [54]

Journalists who lack a strong science background can find themselves in deep water when reporting environmental stories. How do you avoid over- or understating research findings? What’s the difference between observational and experimental studies? And what about those pesky percentages? Former Washington Post science reporter Rick Weiss and his SciLine colleagues have some answers.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [55]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [35]
Air [23]
Climate Change [3]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Studies [7]
Journalism & Media [9]
Pollution [32]
Science [12]
Wildlife [56]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
International [14]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Expert Advice Helps Journalists Navigate Unfamiliar Scientific Seas [54]
Watching the Watchers: How Journalistic Teamwork Uncovered Years of Regulatory Failure in Texas [57]

After a massive fire at a Texas petrochemical storage facility, reporters from Public Health Watch and The Texas Tribune worked together to shed light on who was responsible for this disaster and what health threats had been hidden from the public. This behind-the-scenes report from Public Health Watch’s David Leffler and Savanna Strott looks at the challenges the team faced and how they overcame them.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [55]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [23]
Chemicals [30]
Disasters [24]
Economy & Business [39]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [31]
Environmental Politics [6]
Government [8]
Health [26]
Journalism & Media [9]
Laws & Regulations [10]
Pollution [32]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [44]
Visibility:
Public [20]
- Read more about Watching the Watchers: How Journalistic Teamwork Uncovered Years of Regulatory Failure in Texas [57]

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