Twenty years after the attacks on 9/11, the war on terror has left many risks in the built environment under a cloak of secrecy. For WatchDog Opinion, keeping vital information about such preventable hazards under wraps from the public and journalists is not just wrong, but bad policy. Here’s why. Plus, a rundown for environment reporters of where exactly this secrecy reigns.

In a few weeks, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will officially release the latest year’s Toxics Release Inventory. But as Reporter’s Toolbox explains, you can get ahead of the data — and possibly generate some scoops. That’s because EPA quietly releases incomplete preliminary data months earlier. Top tips on making sense of the early data, along with nine smart story leads.

Once it was mainly radio reporters who showed up with audio recording devices. But with smartphones now in virtually every pocket, many print journalists also record audio for increased accuracy and accountability. But there’s a problem — dreaded hours of transcribing. That doesn’t deter writer Steven B. Krivit, who has tips to make transcribing a breeze, in the latest Freelance Files.

SEJ board president Sadie Babits has been thinking about you, SEJ’s members, who are at the core of this organization. It’s because of you that we are here, and it’s also why we are looking at our membership categories to make sure they best represent the work environmental journalists do today and the evolution of our industry. We’re eager to hear from SEJ members of all categories; here's how.