Publication Items

Are We Ready for the Next Pandemic? [1]

If you’ve been pondering what recent Cyclospora, Legionella and Ebola outbreaks tell us about the state of preparedness for future pandemics, Backgrounder has some sobering insights. A reminder of the uneven response to COVID-19 and a look forward at how current Trump administration policy has weakened public health structures and likely left us unready for what’s ahead.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [3]
Government [4]
Health [5]
People & Population [6]
Policy [7]
Science [8]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
International [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Are We Ready for the Next Pandemic? [1]
Wildfire Data, With Its Hair on Fire [12]

As wildfires rage in the U.S. West, Canada and other hot spots around the globe, reporters covering this environmental hazard in the United States can access high-quality data of exceptional timeliness via the Watch Duty app, finds the latest Reporter’s Toolbox. The tool offers everything from emergency notifications to data deep dives, all smartly integrated in its mapping interface.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [13]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [3]
Health [5]
Journalism & Media [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
California [15]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [16]
Northwest (OR WA) [17]
International [10]
Canada [18]
Europe [19]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Wildfire Data, With Its Hair on Fire [12]
Extremely Hot Weather Cooks Up Unusually Awful Air Pollution [20]

Summertime and the livin' is smoggy. American air may be clearer now than when the Clean Air Act was passed in 1970, but pollutants still abound. Heat and sunlight stoke chemical reactions that exacerbate health hazards. And worsening wildfires mix in harmful smoke. The latest TipSheet has more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [21]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [22]
Air [23]
Chemicals [24]
Climate Change [25]
Energy & Fuel [26]
Environmental Health [27]
Government [4]
Health [5]
Journalism & Media [14]
Laws & Regulations [28]
Pollution [29]
Transportation [30]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
International [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Extremely Hot Weather Cooks Up Unusually Awful Air Pollution [20]
Climate Data Site Spiked, Resurrected by Ex-NOAA Employees [31]

An effort by the Trump administration to tank a highly useful data source on climate change trends has met impressive resistance — in the form of a group of fired NOAA staffers who have rebuilt the climate.gov website stripped by the federal government. And as the latest Toolbox notes, it’s a great resource. Reacquaint yourself with it.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [13]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [22]
Climate Change [25]
Environmental Politics [32]
Environmental Studies [33]
Government [4]
Science [8]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
International [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Climate Data Site Spiked, Resurrected by Ex-NOAA Employees [31]
SEJournal Adds Two New Editors [34]

SEJournal welcomes two additions to our Publications masthead — veteran data/multimedia journalist Geoff McGhee and early-career freelancer Julie Zenderoudi. McGhee joins us as co-editor of our visual journalism column, EJ InSight. And Zenderoudi comes aboard as co-editor of Freelance Files. Learn more about them and watch for their contributions to our pages in the near future. Plus, two farewells.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [35]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
International [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about SEJournal Adds Two New Editors [34]
Great Lakes Steelmaking at a Crossroads [36]

The Great Lakes region is a top steel producer, but its coal-fired steel mills are also a major source of planet-warming emissions and health-harming pollution. Climate advocates, community members and workers have been pushing to clean up these facilities for decades. Now, foreign funding offers new hope for revitalizing and decarbonizing the region’s steel industry. Canary Media’s Maria Gallucci explains.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [37]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [22]
Air [23]
Climate Change [25]
Economy & Business [38]
Energy & Fuel [26]
Environmental Politics [32]
Government [4]
Health [5]
Natural Resources [39]
Pollution [29]
Technology [40]
Water & Oceans [41]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [42]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [43]
International [10]
Asia [44]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Great Lakes Steelmaking at a Crossroads [36]
A Super (Probably ‘Duper’) El Niño Is Coming. Watch Out! [45]

The news has been full of warnings about a larger-than-normal El Niño, the periodic weather pattern that portends drastic fluctuations in everything from temperatures and precipitation to ocean currents and hurricanes. The latest Issue Backgrounder takes a step back to help explain exactly how this phenomenon works and what its impacts may be, while offering a parting thought on smart coverage.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [46]
Climate Change [25]
Environmental Studies [33]
Fish & Fisheries [47]
Food [48]
Journalism & Media [14]
Science [8]
Water & Oceans [41]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
International [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about A Super (Probably ‘Duper’) El Niño Is Coming. Watch Out! [45]
Catch-22 on the Baltic — Twilight of Poland’s Coastal Fisherman [49]

Small-scale fisheries on the wane in an obscure region of the world, and a unique ethnic group trapped between being a tourist attraction and surviving a failing industry. Read how award-winning Polish journalist Tadeusz Michrowski turned this small, unsexy story into something bigger, a complex and nuanced portrait of a community of individuals in transition.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [50]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics [32]
Fish & Fisheries [47]
Journalism & Media [14]
Natural Resources [39]
People & Population [6]
Water & Oceans [41]
Region:
International [10]
Europe [19]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Catch-22 on the Baltic — Twilight of Poland’s Coastal Fisherman [49]
Kelp — The Understory, Underwater [51]

Massive kelp groves, little-noticed despite their proximity to populated coastlines or their importance to ecosystems and to us humans, face numerous pressures and a drastic decline. In “Forest of the Sea,” author David Helvarg dives into the subject, literally, to help reveal this unique undersea world. BookShelf contributing editor Jennifer Weeks has a review.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [52]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [53]
Climate Change [25]
Environmental Health [27]
Fish & Fisheries [47]
Natural Resources [39]
Pollution [29]
Water & Oceans [41]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
International [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about Kelp — The Understory, Underwater [51]
How Attribution Science Can Help Reporters on the Heat Beat [54]

With 2026 shaping up to be an exceptional El Niño year, expect lots of record-breaking heat waves and other extreme weather. But climate change will also contribute. Explaining the role of both is essential to complete coverage. Journalist Ethan Brown shares tips and resources for using climate attribution science as a powerful reporting tool. Plus, five questions to ask while covering the next extreme climate event.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [37]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [25]
Disasters [3]
Environmental Politics [32]
Environmental Studies [33]
Journalism & Media [14]
Policy [7]
Science [8]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
International [10]
Visibility:
Public [11]
- Read more about How Attribution Science Can Help Reporters on the Heat Beat [54]

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