Publication Items

Home Insurance Likely To Be a 2024 Climate Story Near You [1]

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 [2] on extreme weather and insurance.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [3]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Consumer [5]
Disasters [6]
Economy & Business [7]
Environmental Politics [8]
Government [9]
Journalism & Media [10]
Laws & Regulations [11]
People & Population [12]
Planning & Growth [13]
Policy [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
California [16]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [17]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [18]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Home Insurance Likely To Be a 2024 Climate Story Near You [1]
2024 Journalists’ Guide to Environment + Energy [20]

SEJournal looks ahead to key issues in the coming year with our eighth annual Journalists’ Guide to Environment + Energy. In the 2024 special report, we offer a series of forward-focused TipSheets and Backgrounders, plus an overview analysis and coverage from the Society of Environmental Journalists' year-ahead roundtable in Washington, D.C.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [21]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about 2024 Journalists’ Guide to Environment + Energy [20]
Wildfire DisInformation Becomes a State Weapon, Aided by AI [22]

How did the Lahaina wildfire spark an AI-driven influence campaign out of China? Perhaps a technological leap. Or perhaps, the new WatchDog Opinion column suggests, a natural evolution of a decades-old disinformation playbook with roots in a war against science and culminating in climate denial. A look at the disturbing prospects and a plea for journalists not to sidestep the phenomenon but to cover it.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog [23]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [24]
Climate Change [4]
Economy & Business [7]
Energy & Fuel [25]
Environmental Politics [8]
Journalism & Media [10]
Policy [14]
Science [26]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
International [27]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Wildfire DisInformation Becomes a State Weapon, Aided by AI [22]
Unique Podcast Team Gives Voice to Troubled Communities Near Declining Salton Sea [28]

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 [29]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [30]
Agriculture [31]
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [6]
Environmental Health [32]
Environmental Justice [33]
Environmental Politics [8]
Health [34]
Journalism & Media [10]
Natural Resources [35]
People & Population [12]
Water & Oceans [36]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
California [16]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Unique Podcast Team Gives Voice to Troubled Communities Near Declining Salton Sea [28]
CDC Data Offer Multiplicity of Starting Points for Environmental Health Stories [37]

For reporters seeking stories that connect environmental and health issues, there may be no better — or more wide-ranging — place to start than with high-quality data from the Centers for Disease Control’s wide range of datasets. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox looks into where the CDC’s data originates from and how that affects its usefulness, and offers up a helpful overview of CDC data surveys.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [38]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Studies [39]
Government [9]
Health [34]
Journalism & Media [10]
Science [26]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about CDC Data Offer Multiplicity of Starting Points for Environmental Health Stories [37]
Between the Lines — Great Lakes Author Looks Back on a Writing Career, Forward to Journalism’s Future [40]

With a dozen books under his belt, environmental writer and Great Lakes policy expert Dave Dempsey is ready to put away his pen. But not before sharing important lessons from his career, how he found hope amid the destruction and how he sees journalism succeeding. BookShelf contributor Gary Wilson talks with the author for our occasional “Between the Lines” interview series.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [41]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [30]
Environmental Health [32]
Journalism & Media [10]
Natural Resources [35]
Policy [14]
Water & Oceans [36]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [42]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Between the Lines — Great Lakes Author Looks Back on a Writing Career, Forward to Journalism’s Future [40]
Funding To Replace Lead Pipes Is Just the Start of the Story [43]

Billions of dollars in federal funding to get rid of lead pipes is only the beginning — now the pipes have to be located, removed and replaced. And the latest TipSheet says that’s a story that’s found in many U.S. communities, so is ripe for local reporting. Here’s the backstory and why it matters, along with more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [3]
Topics on the Beat:
Consumer [5]
Disasters [6]
Environmental Justice [33]
Environmental Studies [39]
Government [9]
Health [34]
Infrastructure [44]
Journalism & Media [10]
Laws & Regulations [11]
Pollution [45]
Water & Oceans [36]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [42]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Funding To Replace Lead Pipes Is Just the Start of the Story [43]
Disabilities and Disasters — What Questions Should You Be Asking Planners? [46]

As hurricane season ramps up, how are the disaster planners considering those with disabilities in your community? Texas-based journalist Greg Harman shares the story of one group that sued their city over claims it failed to properly prepare. And he extracts some rules of thumb to help determine if emergency planners are taking those with disabilities into consideration where you are.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [47]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [30]
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [6]
Diversity [48]
Environmental Health [32]
Environmental Justice [33]
Environmental Politics [8]
Government [9]
Health [34]
Infrastructure [44]
Journalism & Media [10]
Laws & Regulations [11]
People & Population [12]
Policy [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [17]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [49]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about Disabilities and Disasters — What Questions Should You Be Asking Planners? [46]
To Cover Climate Equity Well, Journalists Must Maintain Mental Health [50]

When climate journalists — especially those confronting various forms of oppression in their own communities — witness environmental destruction and human suffering, the trauma can creep into our psyches. But sometimes our professional stance keeps us from seeing the harm to our mental health. In her new Voices of Environmental Justice column, Yessenia Funes looks at the question head-on, exploring resources and paths to better self-care.

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [51]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Disasters [6]
Diversity [48]
Environmental Justice [33]
Health [34]
Journalism & Media [10]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
Alaska and Hawaii [52]
International [27]
Asia [53]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about To Cover Climate Equity Well, Journalists Must Maintain Mental Health [50]
COP28 Will Be Earth-Shaping News in 2024 and Beyond [54]

When nations converge this fall for the latest round of annual talks on harnessing climate change, they meet at a crucial juncture. Will the increasingly dramatic impacts of global warming, and the prospects of worse, focus their attention enough to bring about progress? In this sweeping analysis, Backgrounder assesses the varied pressures at play at the coming COP28, along with tips for covering it, from up close or afar.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [55]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [4]
Energy & Fuel [25]
Environmental Health [32]
Environmental Politics [8]
Environmental Studies [39]
Government [9]
Journalism & Media [10]
Laws & Regulations [11]
Policy [14]
Science [26]
Region:
National (U.S.) [15]
International [27]
Canada [56]
Africa [57]
Asia [53]
Europe [58]
Middle East [59]
Visibility:
Public [19]
- Read more about COP28 Will Be Earth-Shaping News in 2024 and Beyond [54]

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