Publication Items

Bringing Personal Perspective to Disaster [1]

TV journalist Jacob Soboroff grew up in Pacific Palisades, so when the Los Angeles neighborhood was swept by wildfires in 2024, he reported from familiar sites as they burned. He writes about the experience in “Firestorm: The Great Los Angeles Fires and America’s New Age of Disaster,” whose strength BookShelf contributor Jennifer Weeks says is its street-level descriptions of chasing the fast-developing story. Read her review.

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [3]
Journalism & Media [4]
People & Population [5]
Region:
National (U.S.) [6]
California [7]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Bringing Personal Perspective to Disaster [1]
Closing the Trust Gap With Environmental Justice Communities [9]

Communities impacted by environmental justice issues often view the media with wariness deeply rooted in history. But some journalists and EJ advocates are working together to forge a better relationship. While recognizing the challenges, they offer encouragement with a set of guiding principles for reporters who want to gain the trust of communities and tell accurate, respectful and impactful environmental stories.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [11]
Climate Change [12]
Environmental Justice [13]
Health [14]
Journalism & Media [4]
People & Population [5]
Planning & Growth [15]
Policy [16]
Pollution [17]
Region:
National (U.S.) [6]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [18]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [19]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Closing the Trust Gap With Environmental Justice Communities [9]
Counting Heat Deaths When Official Data Is Deceptive [20]

Climate change’s real impact is difficult to measure when it comes to heat-related illness and death. That’s due, in large part, to the way health agencies count — or actually undercount — the numbers. But the latest TipSheet spotlights an approach journalists can use to tally the true toll. Plus, additional reporting resources to cover the story in your community.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [21]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [12]
Health [14]
Journalism & Media [4]
People & Population [5]
Region:
National (U.S.) [6]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Counting Heat Deaths When Official Data Is Deceptive [20]
Farm Bill Stuck in the Mud? [22]

The Farm Bill — omnibus legislation that affects the food supply of millions of Americans, as well as their air, water and soil — is bogged down in hyperpartisan division. But as Backgrounder outlines, environmental journalists would be wise to track how Congress ultimately uses it to address matters like land and water conservation, rural water supply and pollution, pesticides and more.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [23]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [24]
Chemicals [25]
Climate Change [12]
Consumer [26]
Economy & Business [27]
Environmental Health [28]
Environmental Politics [29]
Food [30]
Government [31]
Laws & Regulations [32]
People & Population [5]
Policy [16]
Pollution [17]
Water & Oceans [33]
Region:
National (U.S.) [6]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Farm Bill Stuck in the Mud? [22]
Unpacking Puerto Rico’s Water Crisis [34]

Puerto Rico is suffering from months of water rationing. But for journalists to fully cover this many-layered water story requires a real understanding of how the U.S. territory's politics and history have brought it to this crossroads, argues columnist Yessenia Funes. That, plus a capacity to listen to affected communities, report on solutions and consider partnerships with local journalists.

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [35]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [29]
Government [31]
Health [14]
Infrastructure [36]
Journalism & Media [4]
Natural Resources [37]
People & Population [5]
Policy [16]
Water & Oceans [33]
Region:
National (U.S.) [6]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Unpacking Puerto Rico’s Water Crisis [34]
Are We Ready for the Next Pandemic? [38]

If you’ve been pondering what recent Cyclospora, Legionella and Ebola outbreaks tell us about the state of preparedness for future pandemics, Backgrounder has some sobering insights. A reminder of the uneven response to COVID-19 and a look forward at how current Trump administration policy has weakened public health structures and likely left us unready for what’s ahead.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [23]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [3]
Government [31]
Health [14]
People & Population [5]
Policy [16]
Science [39]
Region:
National (U.S.) [6]
International [40]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Are We Ready for the Next Pandemic? [38]
Why the Loss of Voting Rights Is a Climate Crisis [41]

When the Supreme Court further hollowed out the Voting Rights Act this spring, it augured a historic loss of civic power for Black communities. And with that comes a further blow — to progress on the environment. For as Voices of Environmental Justice columnist Yessenia Funes explains, key to climate policy are Black voters, and the Black legislators they bring into office.

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [35]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [11]
Climate Change [12]
Disasters [3]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [29]
Government [31]
Journalism & Media [4]
Laws & Regulations [32]
People & Population [5]
Policy [16]
Pollution [17]
Region:
National (U.S.) [6]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [19]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [42]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Why the Loss of Voting Rights Is a Climate Crisis [41]
Catch-22 on the Baltic — Twilight of Poland’s Coastal Fisherman [43]

Small-scale fisheries on the wane in an obscure region of the world, and a unique ethnic group trapped between being a tourist attraction and surviving a failing industry. Read how award-winning Polish journalist Tadeusz Michrowski turned this small, unsexy story into something bigger, a complex and nuanced portrait of a community of individuals in transition.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [44]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics [29]
Fish & Fisheries [45]
Journalism & Media [4]
Natural Resources [37]
People & Population [5]
Water & Oceans [33]
Region:
International [40]
Europe [46]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Catch-22 on the Baltic — Twilight of Poland’s Coastal Fisherman [43]
Is Climate Disaster Insurance a Worsening Disaster? [47]

The growing disconnect between climate risk and risk insurance for homeowners is leaving millions on the knife-edge of economic disaster. But the latest TipSheet suggests that reality offers environmental journalists an opportunity to navigate the morass, community by community. Get more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources in the latest column.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [21]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [12]
Consumer [26]
Disasters [3]
Environmental Politics [29]
Government [31]
Journalism & Media [4]
Laws & Regulations [32]
People & Population [5]
Planning & Growth [15]
Policy [16]
Water & Oceans [33]
Wildlife [48]
Region:
National (U.S.) [6]
California [7]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [19]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Is Climate Disaster Insurance a Worsening Disaster? [47]
Reporters Expose Failed Systems After Hurricane Ian, Maui Fires [49]

In the wake of two major disasters, beat reporters at The Washington Post examined systemic failures in response and recovery, and the human toll for affected communities. Journalist Brianna Sacks shares what she learned from those investigations, which won a large market award for beat reporting from the Society of Environmental Journalists. Read our Inside Story Q&A.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [44]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [3]
Environmental Politics [29]
Journalism & Media [4]
People & Population [5]
Policy [16]
Region:
National (U.S.) [6]
California [7]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [19]
Visibility:
Public [8]
- Read more about Reporters Expose Failed Systems After Hurricane Ian, Maui Fires [49]

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