Publication Items

Getting the Most from Conferences [1]

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 [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [3]
Visibility:
Public [4]
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Toolbox: FWS Showcases Completed National Wetlands Inventory [5]

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 [6]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about Toolbox: FWS Showcases Completed National Wetlands Inventory [5]
Toolbox: A Swiss Army Knife for Environmental Data Journalists [7]

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 [6]
Topics on the Beat:
Technology [8]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about Toolbox: A Swiss Army Knife for Environmental Data Journalists [7]
News Media Roll Eyes at Obama Openness Pledges [9]

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 [6]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [10]
Journalism & Media [3]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about News Media Roll Eyes at Obama Openness Pledges [9]
Baker Hughes Vows To Disclose Frack Chemicals. Will Others? [11]

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 [6]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [12]
Environmental Health [13]
Pollution [14]
Water & Oceans [15]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about Baker Hughes Vows To Disclose Frack Chemicals. Will Others? [11]
Journos Fight Feds To Keep Drones As News Tool [16]

More than a dozen news media organizations filed a brief May 6, 2014, arguing that the Federal Aviation Administration is violating the First Amendment with its limits on drones. The media groups were intervening in the appeal of a judge's overturning of a $10,000 Federal Aviation Administration fine imposed on Raphael Pirker, a videographer who shot a promotional video of the University of Virginia campus.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [6]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [3]
Laws & Regulations [17]
Technology [8]
Transportation [18]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about Journos Fight Feds To Keep Drones As News Tool [16]
Are Your Schoolkids Threatened by Chemical Plants? An App for That [19]

When the fertilizer depot in West, Texas, blew up, some schools were damaged beyond repair. Fortunately, none of the kids died. But it raised an issue that has been obvious — and too often ignored by news media — for years. A new tool from the Center for Effective Government will help environmental journalists learn which schools in their area are near facilities that handle toxic, hazardous, explosive, or combustible materials.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [6]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [20]
Disasters [21]
People & Population [22]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about Are Your Schoolkids Threatened by Chemical Plants? An App for That [19]
TOOLBOX: Labor Dept. Enforcement Data Tool Can Help Journalists [23]

Workers exposed occupationally to toxic chemicals and other safety threats are often the first sign of danger to the general population. A new portal combining Labor Department enforcement databases offers environmental journalists a new tool for exploring such stories.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [6]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [20]
Technology [8]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about TOOLBOX: Labor Dept. Enforcement Data Tool Can Help Journalists [23]
Chevron Blocks Access by State Regulators to Gas Well Explosion Site [24]

One worker was killed February 11, 2014, when a Chevron gas well exploded near Bobtown, Pennsylvania, and burned for five days. But inspectors from the state's Department of Environmental Protection were stopped by Chevron from approaching the site — thus keeping them from seeing possible safety violations. The DEP acquiesced at the time, but later cited Chevron for nine violations at the site.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [6]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [21]
Energy & Fuel [12]
People & Population [22]
Region:
California [25]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [26]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [27]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about Chevron Blocks Access by State Regulators to Gas Well Explosion Site [24]
Texas Punishes San Antonio COG for Disclosing Oil/Gas Pollution [28]

On April 4, 2014, the Alamo Area Council of Governments, the regional area which is supposed to control smog, released its study results — which suggested drilling in the Eagle Ford shale did indeed contribute a lot to smog. Days later, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which had funded the study, cut AACOG's budget by 25 percent.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [6]
Topics on the Beat:
Air [29]
Environmental Politics [30]
Pollution [14]
Region:
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [27]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about Texas Punishes San Antonio COG for Disclosing Oil/Gas Pollution [28]

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