Publication Items

In Their Own Words — Story Insights From SEJ’s 2023 Award Winners [1]

When Inside Story co-editor Rocky Kistner reviewed video statements from first-place winners of the Society of Environmental Journalists 2023 reporting awards, he found a series of striking insights into the work of environmental journalism. From environment as a true crime story and going beyond the headlines, to covering communities at risk and through powerful interests, a look at nine highly effective approaches to telling environmental stories.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Biodiversity [3]
Chemicals [4]
Climate Change [5]
Economy & Business [6]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Justice [9]
Environmental Politics [10]
Forests [11]
Government [12]
Health [13]
Infrastructure [14]
Journalism & Media [15]
Natural Resources [16]
People & Population [17]
Policy [18]
Pollution [19]
Waste [20]
Water & Oceans [21]
Wildlife [22]
Region:
National (U.S.) [23]
California [24]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [25]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [26]
International [27]
Africa [28]
South America [29]
Visibility:
Public [30]
- Read more about In Their Own Words — Story Insights From SEJ’s 2023 Award Winners [1]
Clearing the Smoke — Collaboration Exposes Impacts of Wildfire Pollution-Reporting Rules [31]

Climate change is fueling the frequency and severity of wildfires, but a little-known Clean Air Act rule lets environmental agencies downplay the impacts of wildfire smoke. A collaborative investigation into this loophole connected dots that even the experts didn’t know about. Journalists Dillon Bergin and Molly Peterson explain their reporting process and offer advice for following your own local leads.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [32]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [33]
Climate Change [5]
Disasters [34]
Environmental Health [8]
Government [12]
Health [13]
Journalism & Media [15]
Laws & Regulations [35]
Pollution [19]
Region:
National (U.S.) [23]
Alaska and Hawaii [36]
California [24]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [25]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [37]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [26]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [38]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [39]
Northwest (OR WA) [40]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [41]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [42]
Visibility:
Public [30]
- Read more about Clearing the Smoke — Collaboration Exposes Impacts of Wildfire Pollution-Reporting Rules [31]
Recycled Sewage Water — Overcoming the ‘Yuck Factor’ [43]

Toilet-to-tap water jokes aside, the technology and economics of turning sewage into potable drinking water is increasingly seen as a remedy for water-stressed communities. The new BookShelf review of “Purified: How Recycled Sewage is Transforming Our Water,” explains how water shortages, climate change, unsustainable growth and other factors have led some communities, most recently Los Angeles, to consider going “all in” on purified wastewater.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [44]
Topics on the Beat:
Infrastructure [14]
Policy [18]
Science [45]
Technology [46]
Waste [20]
Water & Oceans [21]
Region:
National (U.S.) [23]
California [24]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [25]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [41]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [42]
Visibility:
Public [30]
- Read more about Recycled Sewage Water — Overcoming the ‘Yuck Factor’ [43]
Capturing the Invisible — Photographing Extreme Heat Waves [47]

If extreme heat seems an unusual subject for December, the new EJ InSight column reminds us that among the natural disasters sweeping 2023 were waves of devastating global highs. Yet telling that story visually is an enormous challenge, acknowledges former LA Times photo editor Silvia Rázgová, who shares insights into how to portray the seriousness of extreme heat, getting beyond the cliches and connecting (safely) with its dangerous reality.

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ InSight [48]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [5]
Disasters [34]
Environmental Justice [9]
Health [13]
Journalism & Media [15]
Region:
National (U.S.) [23]
California [24]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [41]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [42]
Visibility:
Public [30]
- Read more about Capturing the Invisible — Photographing Extreme Heat Waves [47]
Between the Lines — Author Explores Experience of Living Through Climate Change [49]

To make climate change less abstract and more direct, writer Madeline Ostrander traveled the country to speak to those living with its impacts in the places they call home. In a BookShelf “Between the Lines” Q&A, Ostrander discusses her resulting book, “At Home on an Unruly Planet: Finding Refuge on a Changed Earth,” and addresses the lenses she used, the characters she portrayed and the surprises she encountered.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [44]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [50]
Climate Change [5]
Disasters [34]
Economy & Business [6]
Environmental Justice [9]
Environmental Politics [10]
Forests [11]
Health [13]
Journalism & Media [15]
People & Population [17]
Policy [18]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [51]
Science [45]
Wildlife [22]
Region:
National (U.S.) [23]
Alaska and Hawaii [36]
California [24]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [41]
International [27]
Canada [52]
Visibility:
Public [30]
- Read more about Between the Lines — Author Explores Experience of Living Through Climate Change [49]
Prying Open the Statehouse Doors [53]

Reporting on environmental stories often leads to the state legislature, where key material can be frustratingly hard to access. Whether that’s because the state is deliberately hiding information, has poor systems for sharing it or isn’t even tracking it, there are ways to get what you need. Four seasoned environment reporters offer tips, tricks and commiseration.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [32]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [33]
Economy & Business [6]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Government [12]
Infrastructure [14]
Journalism & Media [15]
Laws & Regulations [35]
Natural Resources [16]
Policy [18]
Water & Oceans [21]
Region:
National (U.S.) [23]
California [24]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [37]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [39]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [42]
Visibility:
Public [30]
- Read more about Prying Open the Statehouse Doors [53]
Home Insurance Likely To Be a 2024 Climate Story Near You [54]

In the first of a two-parter for our 2024 Journalists’ Guide to Environment & Energy, TipSheet looks at what climate-driven disasters mean for the home insurance market. Storms, floods and fire rip through communities, yet a federal insurance program falls short, lawmakers shy away from real reform and insurers grow hesitant to cover the risks, while homeowners often attempt to rebuild in the same problematic locales. Plus, see part two [55] on extreme weather and insurance.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [56]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [5]
Consumer [57]
Disasters [34]
Economy & Business [6]
Environmental Politics [10]
Government [12]
Journalism & Media [15]
Laws & Regulations [35]
People & Population [17]
Planning & Growth [58]
Policy [18]
Region:
National (U.S.) [23]
California [24]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [39]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [41]
Visibility:
Public [30]
- Read more about Home Insurance Likely To Be a 2024 Climate Story Near You [54]
Unique Podcast Team Gives Voice to Troubled Communities Near Declining Salton Sea [59]

In the Coachella Valley east of Los Angeles, the massive Salton Sea is rapidly drying up, threatening vulnerable immigrant communities in a growing toxic environment. The Living Downstream podcast reported extensively on these hazards, winning third place in the Society of Environmental Journalists’ Awards for Reporting on the Environment’s explanatory reporting, small, category, in 2022. Inside Story spoke with one of the prizewinners.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [50]
Agriculture [60]
Climate Change [5]
Disasters [34]
Environmental Health [8]
Environmental Justice [9]
Environmental Politics [10]
Health [13]
Journalism & Media [15]
Natural Resources [16]
People & Population [17]
Water & Oceans [21]
Region:
National (U.S.) [23]
California [24]
Visibility:
Public [30]
- Read more about Unique Podcast Team Gives Voice to Troubled Communities Near Declining Salton Sea [59]
One Grant, Multiple Stories [61]

Seattle-based correspondent Brett Walton has a habit of adding extra days to his reporting schedules. In this FEJ StoryLog, Walton shares how he used one such buffer to stretch a grant and produce not just one story on California’s small drinking water systems, but a second on the aftermath of wildfire on another town’s water system, plus finish a third pending project on household water debt.

SEJ Publication Types:
FEJ StoryLog [62]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [34]
Health [13]
Infrastructure [14]
Journalism & Media [15]
Water & Oceans [21]
Region:
National (U.S.) [23]
California [24]
Visibility:
Public [30]
- Read more about One Grant, Multiple Stories [61]
The Community We’ve Long Ignored [63]

Veteran environmental justice reporter Yessenia Funes this week launches “Voices of Environmental Justice,” her new SEJournal column. Each quarterly commentary will focus on spotlighting the perspectives of affected communities that environmental and climate journalists often ignore. For her inaugural entry, with Pride month nearing its end, a look at how climate change and environmental pollution exacerbate the already elevated health risks of LGBTQIA+ people.

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [64]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [50]
Agriculture [60]
Climate Change [5]
Diversity [65]
Environmental Justice [9]
Environmental Politics [10]
Health [13]
Journalism & Media [15]
People & Population [17]
Region:
National (U.S.) [23]
California [24]
Visibility:
Public [30]
- Read more about The Community We’ve Long Ignored [63]

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