Publication Items

Between the Lines: Weird News: Writing on Florida, Environment, Booms and Busts [1]

Author and Tampa Bay Times environmental writer Craig Pittman, in addition to his usual output of outstanding environmental stories and books, has found new ways to embrace the irregular, the weird and the wacky. For the latest installment of SEJournal’s author Q & A longtime educator, SEJ member and SEJournal Editorial Board member JoAnn M. Valenti interviewed Pittman about his new book, about covering the environment in Florida, about the book-writing process and balancing writing and journalism.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [2]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [3]
Visibility:
Public [4]
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Covering Wildfire Is No Longer Seasonal Work [5]

Deadly fires that swept Tennessee are harbingers of a new normal for these massive burns, driven by drought and climate factors to become a year-round, multi-region phenomenon. Our in-depth backgrounder offers dozens of resources, plus tips and ideas for improving your wildfire coverage.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [6]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [7]
Disasters [8]
Forests [9]
Journalism & Media [10]
Region:
National (U.S.) [11]
California [12]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [13]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [14]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [15]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [3]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [16]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about Covering Wildfire Is No Longer Seasonal Work [5]
Got Coal Ash? Southeast Database Helps Watchdog Power Plants [17]

Another database upgrade that will help environmental journalists is available from the group Southeast Coal Ash. This database site covers Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [18]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [19]
Pollution [20]
Technology [21]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [3]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about Got Coal Ash? Southeast Database Helps Watchdog Power Plants [17]
Miami Herald Sues County for Location of Zika Mosquitoes, Gets It [22]

Miami-Dade county had stiff-armed a request from the Herald for the information, and denied a FOIA request. The county claimed the information was exempt for public health reasons. Photo: © Clipart.com. [23]

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [18]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Health [24]
Health [25]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [3]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about Miami Herald Sues County for Location of Zika Mosquitoes, Gets It [22]
Citizens Group Says Libel Suit from Landfill Company Meant To Silence [26]

Black Belt Citizens Fighting for Health and Justice says the landfill, which has accepted millions of pounds of coal ash from the 2008 Tennessee spill, violates their civil rights. The community surrounding the landfill is predominantly poor and African-American.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [18]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [27]
Laws & Regulations [28]
People & Population [29]
Waste [30]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [3]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about Citizens Group Says Libel Suit from Landfill Company Meant To Silence [26]
Nine Years After Request for FEMA Katrina Records: Nothing [31]

The Project on Government Oversight FOIA'd FEMA/DHS in 2006 for documents that might reveal hanky-panky with billions of dollars in Hurricane Katrina recovery contracts. In December 2015, DHS finally wrote POGO to say that disclosing the records would constitute an "unwarranted invasion of privacy."

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [18]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [8]
Economy & Business [32]
Environmental Politics [33]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [3]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about Nine Years After Request for FEMA Katrina Records: Nothing [31]
Between the Lines: Author Spends Two Decades ‘Hooked on a Character’ [34]

Rarely does a writer get so deeply into the heart of his or her subject while also avoiding the pitfalls of sentimentality. So began the judges’ comments for “Untamed: The Wildest Woman in America and the Fight for Cumberland Island,” winner of SEJ’s 2015 Rachel Carson Environment Book Award. [35] The book’s author, Will Harlan, spent 19 years developing a bold, unflinching portrayal of Cumberland Island, Ga.’s most ardent defender, the brilliant-yet-eccentric Carol Ruckdeschel. For the latest edition of SEJournal’s Between the Lines author Q & A, Harlan spoke with our book editor, Tom Henry.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [27]
Environmental Studies [36]
Journalism & Media [10]
Natural Resources [37]
Water & Oceans [38]
Wildlife [39]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [3]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about Between the Lines: Author Spends Two Decades ‘Hooked on a Character’ [34]
Settlement Sets Disclosure on Decade-old Gulf Oil Leak [40]

You'd think there shouldn't be such a thing as a secret oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Earlier this year, the Associated Press uncovered an offshore well in the Gulf that had been leaking for a decade. Now — thanks to a lawsuit from environmentalists — the details will be revealed.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [18]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [8]
Energy & Fuel [19]
Environmental Politics [33]
Fish & Fisheries [41]
Pollution [20]
Water & Oceans [38]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [3]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about Settlement Sets Disclosure on Decade-old Gulf Oil Leak [40]
Group Wins Suit To Disclose Fracking in Gulf of Mexico [42]

The Center for Biological Diversity filed a Freedom of Information Act request for documents on offshore Gulf fracking, and was refused by two Interior Department offshore drilling agencies, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. CBD sued, and the lawsuit was settled June 2, 2015.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [18]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [43]
Energy & Fuel [19]
Fish & Fisheries [41]
Laws & Regulations [28]
Pollution [20]
Water & Oceans [38]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [3]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [16]
International [44]
Mexico [45]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about Group Wins Suit To Disclose Fracking in Gulf of Mexico [42]
Florida Employee Sues over Right To Use "C-Word" (Climate) [46]

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), representing Florida Department of Environmental Protection employee Barton Bibler, is calling for an investigation by the DEP's Inspector General into whether the term "climate change" is actually forbidden to be used by state employees — and whether this violates Florida's open government law.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [18]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [7]
Environmental Politics [33]
Policy [47]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [3]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about Florida Employee Sues over Right To Use "C-Word" (Climate) [46]

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