Publication Items

Reporting Innovations Hold Promise for Reporting on Climate Change Amid News Deserts [1]

Slashed news budgets and staff cuts have left many U.S. newsrooms short on time and resources for deep reporting on climate change and other complex topics. But two innovative projects at The Post and Courier in South Carolina — one enriching breaking news stories and the other fostering news outlet cooperation — aim at filling the void. Acclaimed journalist Tony Bartelme explains.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Disasters [4]
Environmental Health [5]
Government [6]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [8]
Policy [9]
Pollution [10]
Waste [11]
Water & Oceans [12]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [14]
Visibility:
Public [15]
- Read more about Reporting Innovations Hold Promise for Reporting on Climate Change Amid News Deserts [1]
Pulitzer Finalist on an Estuary’s Tale, and Stories Hiding in Plain Sight [16]

Prize-winning journalist Tony Bartelme and his local news team enter one of the East Coast’s largest, but lesser known estuaries, and come out with an account that awards judges called “gorgeously executed in the best tradition of storytelling about the environment.” Bartelme shares lessons of covering the challenges of an amorphous ecosystem, and touches on his long record of award-winning reporting, in the latest Inside Story.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [17]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [18]
Journalism & Media [7]
Water & Oceans [12]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [14]
Visibility:
Public [15]
- Read more about Pulitzer Finalist on an Estuary’s Tale, and Stories Hiding in Plain Sight [16]
Covering New IPCC Reports Helps Explain Gravity of Climate Crisis [19]

A new science assessment released this week pinpoints more global warming risks, but also represents reporting challenges to environmental journalists working to cover climate change. Veteran climate journalist Bob Berwyn has the latest news from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and advice for reporters working the climate beat. Plus, links to other climate change reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [20]
Climate Change [3]
Disasters [4]
Energy & Fuel [21]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [18]
Environmental Politics [22]
Environmental Studies [23]
Forests [24]
Government [6]
Health [25]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [8]
Planning & Growth [26]
Policy [9]
Science [27]
Transportation [28]
Water & Oceans [12]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
International [29]
Visibility:
Public [15]
- Read more about Covering New IPCC Reports Helps Explain Gravity of Climate Crisis [19]
Beach Closures Offer Key to Bigger Water Pollution Stories [30]

People all too often swim in waters whose pollution risks are far scarier — and far more real — than shark attacks. Yet little attention is paid to the environmental stories behind the beach closures such pollution can necessitate. TipSheet helps you dip your toe, with the backstory on the most common cause for these health risks, plus reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [31]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [20]
Consumer [32]
Environmental Health [5]
Fish & Fisheries [33]
Health [25]
Infrastructure [34]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [8]
Pollution [10]
Water & Oceans [12]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
California [35]
Visibility:
Public [15]
- Read more about Beach Closures Offer Key to Bigger Water Pollution Stories [30]
Tree Equity Score Offers Aid in Covering Urban Tree Issues [36]

Urban tree cover is no luxury, but rather an important environmental and public health necessity. And for years the lack of urban trees has harmed socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods. To help report on tree cover in U.S. urban areas — and to track it against environmental justice measures — the latest Reporter’s Toolbox spotlights an extensive tree equity scoring database.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [37]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [18]
Health [25]
Journalism & Media [7]
People & Population [38]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Visibility:
Public [15]
- Read more about Tree Equity Score Offers Aid in Covering Urban Tree Issues [36]
Journalists Team Up To Continue Colleagues’ Work Exposing Mining Risks [39]

Environmental journalists around the world sometimes pay for their work with their freedom, safety or even their lives. The Forbidden Stories network continues the reporting of some of those journalists, and a team there recently produced an award-winning collaboration to investigate troubles at mining giants in Central America, South Asia and East Africa. “The Green Blood Project” in this month’s Inside Story.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [17]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [40]
Disasters [4]
Economy & Business [41]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [18]
Environmental Politics [22]
Health [25]
Journalism & Media [7]
Natural Resources [42]
People & Population [38]
Pollution [10]
Waste [11]
Water & Oceans [12]
Region:
International [29]
Africa [43]
Asia [44]
Central America & the Caribbean [45]
Visibility:
Public [15]
- Read more about Journalists Team Up To Continue Colleagues’ Work Exposing Mining Risks [39]
Drilling for Data on Offshore Wells [46]

For reporters covering the long-standing conflict over offshore drilling, which erupted again this month after a federal judge blocked a halt to new leases, an Interior Department database offers a wealth of data about offshore wells. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox walks you through the maze of bureaucracy behind the database, and then provides detailed guidance on how to make the most of its info.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [37]
Topics on the Beat:
Economy & Business [41]
Energy & Fuel [21]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Politics [22]
Government [6]
Journalism & Media [7]
Natural Resources [42]
Policy [9]
Water & Oceans [12]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Alaska and Hawaii [47]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [48]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [49]
Visibility:
Public [15]
- Read more about Drilling for Data on Offshore Wells [46]
Uncovering Inequality’s Roots in Timber Poaching [50]

Journalist Lyndsie Bourgon had covered timber poaching in the Pacific Northwest for over a decade when she decided to expand her scope, heading to the Peruvian Amazon to explore old-growth poaching there. In FEJ StoryLog, she shares the ups and downs of that project, made possible in part by a grant from the Society of Environmental Journalists’ Fund for Environmental Journalism.

SEJ Publication Types:
FEJ StoryLog [51]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Justice [18]
Environmental Politics [22]
Forests [24]
Journalism & Media [7]
Natural Resources [42]
People & Population [38]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Northwest (OR WA) [52]
International [29]
Canada [53]
South America [54]
Visibility:
Public [15]
- Read more about Uncovering Inequality’s Roots in Timber Poaching [50]
Irrigation Districts Are Key to Covering Coming Drought [55]

With megadrought a growing reality, one way into the story is through ubiquitous water management agencies. TipSheet surveys the “waterscape” of these governmental bodies — from local irrigation districts to multi-state regional water compacts — and how focusing on them can yield vital insights for drought stories. Plus, questions to ask and links to reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [31]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [20]
Climate Change [3]
Consumer [32]
Disasters [4]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Politics [22]
Fish & Fisheries [33]
Government [6]
Infrastructure [34]
Journalism & Media [7]
Laws & Regulations [8]
Natural Resources [42]
People & Population [38]
Planning & Growth [26]
Water & Oceans [12]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
Visibility:
Public [15]
- Read more about Irrigation Districts Are Key to Covering Coming Drought [55]
Digging Deep Into an Insect ‘Die-off’ When the Data Is Missing [56]

Even with a book in the works and a pledge to not take on new projects, freelance environmental journalist Jeremy Hance couldn’t say no to a series on global insect decline. Despite missing data and numerous other challenges, the resulting project was an award-winning example of explanatory reporting. Insights and lessons learned, in the new Inside Story.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [17]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [57]
Environmental Health [5]
Environmental Studies [23]
Journalism & Media [7]
Science [27]
Wildlife [58]
Region:
National (U.S.) [13]
International [29]
Visibility:
Public [15]
- Read more about Digging Deep Into an Insect ‘Die-off’ When the Data Is Missing [56]

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