Publication Items

In Covering Chemical Spill, Ward Zags When Others Zig [1]

"Inside Story" editor Beth Daley interviews Charleston (WV) Gazette reporter Ken Ward Jr. — who is recognized nationally for his reporting on coal mining, the environment and workplace safety — about his unique work on the Freedom Industries spill story. Photo: The FI tank which leaked a coal-cleaning chemical into the river on Jan. 9, 2014, contaminating the drinking water of 300,000 West Virginians for weeks. Credit: Commercial Photography Services of WV via USCSB.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [3]
Disasters [4]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Environmental Health [6]
Health [7]
Water & Oceans [8]
Region:
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [9]
Visibility:
Public [10]
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SEJournal Spring 2014, Vol. 24 No. 1 [11]

In this issue: SEJ prez Hopey on access issues; ways climate will make news in 2014; Ken Ward Jr. on the art of covering the WV MCHM spill; local meetups bring networking home; getting the most from conferences; teaching news innovation; how good audio gives life to your enviro storytelling; Q&A with "Last Ocean" author John Weller; book reviews; and the annual Sundance Festival review.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJournal Online [12]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [13]
Visibility:
Public [10]
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New Oil-Gas Well Database Offers Tool for Environmental Reporters [14]

The federal government certainly won't tell you. But the nonprofit research group FracTracker will give you data and maps on some 1.1 million oil and gas wells in 36 U.S. states. It's a great starting point for stories on the environmental impacts of drilling and fracking in your area.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [15]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [5]
Technology [16]
Visibility:
Public [10]
- Read more about New Oil-Gas Well Database Offers Tool for Environmental Reporters [14]
Wyoming Supreme Court Doubts 'Trade Secret' Loophole on Fracking Disclosure [17]

Just claiming something as "confidential business information" is not enough. Wyoming's Supreme Court said the state's drillers, and state regulators, bear the burden of showing why they are withholding disclosure of the often-toxic chemicals pumped underground in fracking operations.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [15]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [3]
Energy & Fuel [5]
Laws & Regulations [18]
Region:
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [19]
Visibility:
Public [10]
- Read more about Wyoming Supreme Court Doubts 'Trade Secret' Loophole on Fracking Disclosure [17]
Kentucky Legislature Weighs "Ag-Gag" Bill [20]

Kentucky is the latest state to consider legislation criminalizing undercover photography of animal abuse in farm operations, which often ends up in the news. But Democratic Rep. Joni Jenkins (pictured), who sponsored the measure to which the Senate attached the Ag-Gag language, says she won't call it up in the House.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [15]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [21]
Agriculture [22]
Food [23]
Laws & Regulations [18]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [24]
Visibility:
Public [10]
- Read more about Kentucky Legislature Weighs "Ag-Gag" Bill [20]
NO QUESTIONS: Hill Reporter Detained After Questioning McCarthy [25]

For decades reporters have staked out doorways in the U.S. Capitol in hopes of shouting questions at emerging bigwigs. But last week Bloomberg BNA energy reporter Ari Natter, trying to question EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, was briefly detained by Capitol Police. McCarthy declined to answer his question.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [15]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics [26]
Region:
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [9]
Visibility:
Public [10]
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"For God, Country & Coca-Cola" [27]

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [28]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [3]
Consumer [29]
Economy & Business [30]
Forests [31]
Pollution [32]
Water & Oceans [8]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [24]
Visibility:
Public [10]
- Read more about "For God, Country & Coca-Cola" [27]
"State of the Heart: South Carolina Writers on the Places They Love" [33]

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [28]
Topics on the Beat:
People & Population [34]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [24]
Visibility:
Public [10]
- Read more about "State of the Heart: South Carolina Writers on the Places They Love" [33]
"Cows Save the Planet: And Other Improbable Ways of Restoring Soil to Heal the Earth" [35]

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [28]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [22]
Climate Change [36]
Environmental Health [6]
Food [23]
Visibility:
Public [10]
- Read more about "Cows Save the Planet: And Other Improbable Ways of Restoring Soil to Heal the Earth" [35]
Calls for More Sunshine Strike Wide Media Response [37]

An extensive Associated Press analysis of Freedom of Information Act performance, based on legally required FOIA reports and statistics, was just one of many this week. Other Sunshine Week coverage also tried to take a broad view of how the federal government was doing on the openness front. Spoiler alert: not so good.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [15]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [38]
Journalism & Media [13]
Visibility:
Public [10]
- Read more about Calls for More Sunshine Strike Wide Media Response [37]

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