Publication Items

Special Edition TipSheet: Gulf Coast Restoration [1]

Amy Wold, a reporter with The Advocate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, writes about coastal challenges facing the state, including coastal loss, restoration, economics, diversion, the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, BP settlements and the RESTORE Act, fisheries impacts — and why protecting and stabilizing Louisiana’s coastline is not just a local issue, but a national one. Image: Heavy machinery moves around sediment that has been piped in from the Mississippi River at a coastal restoration project in Plaquemines Parish in November 2013. © Amy Wold, The (Baton Rouge) Advocate.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [3]
Fish & Fisheries [4]
Planning & Growth [5]
Water & Oceans [6]
Region:
National (U.S.) [7]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [8]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Special Edition TipSheet: Gulf Coast Restoration [1]
"SPJToolbox" Catalogues Vast Gumshoe Resources [10]

If you are a serious journalist and have not yet discovered the "SPJ Toolbox," you are in for a treat. The website offers useful sources for a wide range of topics of interest, especially to investigative reporters. Topics include protecting sources, privacy, data visualization, digital verification, transcription tools, rights-free photos, mobile journalism, public records, copy-editing, and more.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [11]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [12]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about "SPJToolbox" Catalogues Vast Gumshoe Resources [10]
Reporters Curious About Tar Sands Not Very Welcome in Canada [13]

Reporter Emily Atkin of the Climate Progress blog told recently of flying into Fort McMurray, Alberta to see the tar sands and being hassled for some 45 minutes by "security" officials because she was a journalist — including being told "We might have to send you back to the States."

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [11]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [3]
Environmental Politics [14]
Journalism & Media [12]
Natural Resources [15]
Region:
Canada [16]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Reporters Curious About Tar Sands Not Very Welcome in Canada [13]
Will EPA Go Further in Pushing Fracking Fluid Disclosure? [17]

The agency is exploring some of its legal options for improving transparency about fracking fluid. One sign that EPA might be thinking of using its existing Clean Water Act legal authority came when the publication DeSmogBlog published on May 28 a leaked EPA draft suggesting it was considering doing precisely that.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [11]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [3]
Laws & Regulations [18]
Water & Oceans [6]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Will EPA Go Further in Pushing Fracking Fluid Disclosure? [17]
You Can Hide Oil Trains From the Public, But Not From Terrorists [19]

As 100-car trains of explosive crude oil snake through U.S. cities and river gorges, the railroad industry continues to tell the public they are being kept secret from terrorists. But now a series of articles by Rob Davis for the The (Portland) Oregonian seems to have caught the railroads and the feds in their own contradictions.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [11]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [20]
Energy & Fuel [3]
People & Population [21]
Transportation [22]
Region:
National (U.S.) [7]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [23]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about You Can Hide Oil Trains From the Public, But Not From Terrorists [19]
Getting the Most from Conferences [24]

Freelance writer and editor Jennifer Weeks extolls the virtues of freelancers attending conferences and shares her wisdom on choosing ones that meet your needs ("SEJ’s annual conference... my favorite after a decade of freelancing"), and what to do before, during and after. Photo: © Roger Archibald.

SEJ Publication Types:
Freelance Files [25]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [12]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Getting the Most from Conferences [24]
Toolbox: FWS Showcases Completed National Wetlands Inventory [26]

You might have noticed that Republicans, real estate developers, farmers, and others have gotten steamed lately about U.S. EPA's effort to define its jurisdiction over U.S. waters. Whatever your views on this controversy, it will mean a lot of good local stories. Now there's an improved data tool for gathering information about those waters that may not be big enough to row a boat on, but still are critical to the environment.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [11]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Toolbox: FWS Showcases Completed National Wetlands Inventory [26]
Toolbox: A Swiss Army Knife for Environmental Data Journalists [27]

The U.S. EPA has put online a "Data Finder" tool that simplifies finding and accessing data that may help you report your particular story. Find datasets by searching in many dimensions: media (air, water), health risks, pollutants, and others. It has an easy browse feature, and links to even more datasets than does EPA's mainstream Envirofacts portal.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [11]
Topics on the Beat:
Technology [28]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Toolbox: A Swiss Army Knife for Environmental Data Journalists [27]
News Media Roll Eyes at Obama Openness Pledges [29]

Some of the eye-rolling was chronicled in a May 1, 2014, post in the blog Mediaite. It quoted New York Times Executive Editor Jill Abramson calling the Obama administration "the most secretive White House I have ever dealt with." The story came out just a couple of days before the White House Correspondents' Association dinner.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [11]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [30]
Journalism & Media [12]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about News Media Roll Eyes at Obama Openness Pledges [29]
Baker Hughes Vows To Disclose Frack Chemicals. Will Others? [31]

It may be good PR. Baker Hughes has not only been a leader in oilfield technology, but has also been a leader in the inexact science of producing benign media coverage. The company says it will disclose the identities of all the chemicals it uses, but not the exact amounts or proportions. This move might also be a shrewd way of getting a jump on the inevitable, ahead of possible EPA mandatory disclosure requirements.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [11]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [3]
Environmental Health [32]
Pollution [33]
Water & Oceans [6]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Baker Hughes Vows To Disclose Frack Chemicals. Will Others? [31]

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