The story about wolves, elk, and the Yellowstone ecosystem has been told and retold by U.S. news media. The gist is that the reintroduction of wolves restored balance in overgrown elk populations -- which in turn allowed restoration of aspen groves which the elk had been overbrowsing. But new evidence suggests the story isn't really true -- or that a true understanding of the ecosystem is far more complex. That in turn raises issues about how U.S. news media cover the environment.
"WASHINGTON — In the summer of 2010, it was Harry Reid, the Senate’s Democratic leader, who squelched his party’s efforts to pass a climate change bill, declaring it could never attract enough votes to pass. In the years since, he has rarely spoken publicly about the issue. But on Monday night, an impassioned Mr. Reid took to the Senate floor to kick off a nearly 15-hour climate-change talkathon by about 30 Senate Democrats, part of a campaign by a new Senate 'climate caucus' to make it a politically urgent issue."
"Records show GE was warned about health threats of PCBs decades before anti-dredging campaign."
One of the few journalists covering First Nation protests against fracking in New Brunswick -- and regularly arrested for doing so -- saw charges against him dropped for a third time in February. Now the Canadian Association of Journalists asks whether the RCMP are trying to intimidate journalists.
"An aging Enbridge pipeline that runs across Ontario has had at least 35 spills — far more than reported to federal regulators — but many municipalities along its route have never been informed of the incidents, a CTV W5 investigation reveals."
Will the Federal Aviation Administration make drone journalism illegal? The first answer is likely to come soon. Connecticut journalist Pedro Rivera filed suit February 18, 2014, against Hartford police officers who he said violated his First Amendment rights to gather news.
"The head of nuclear safety for the cleanup of the former nuclear weapons site at Hanford, Wash., was fired Tuesday after allegations she made over several years that the construction project was ignoring serious safety problems."
Public radio journalist Karen Schaefer shares how she pursued and won a grant, bumps in the road she overcame, lessons learned, and tips for unearthing funders. Photo: Schaefer on the job at a cow barn at Vander Made Farms near Sherwood, Ohio. Photo by Chris Kick, Farm and Dairy.
Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/initiatives/sej-annual-conferences/AC2014-agenda-wednesday
[2] https://www.sej.org/initiatives/sej-annual-conferences/AC2014-main
[3] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster
[4] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/journalism/media
[5] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81
[6] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/southeast
[7] https://www.sej.org/headlines/opinion-wolf-real-american-hero
[8] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land
[9] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national
[10] http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/10/opinion/is-the-wolf-a-real-american-hero.html?_r=2
[11] https://www.sej.org/headlines/senate-democrats%E2%80%99-all-nighter-flags-climate-change
[12] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/activism
[13] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/climate-change
[14] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-politics
[15] http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/11/us/politics/26-democrats-plan-a-senate-all-nighter-on-climate-change.html?ref=energy-environment
[16] https://www.sej.org/headlines/general-electrics-knowledge-pcbs-dredging-truth
[17] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/pollution
[18] http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Dredging-up-the-truth-5294643.php
[19] https://www.sej.org/headlines/all-charges-dropped-hmc-journalist-miles-howe
[20] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international/canada
[21] http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/story/all-charges-dropped-hmc-journalist-miles-howe/22078
[22] https://www.sej.org/calendar/society-environmental-journalists-nyc-meetup
[23] https://www.sej.org/category/event-type/conferences/regional
[24] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northeast
[25] https://www.sej.org/headlines/w5-uncovers-unreported-spills-alarming-communities-along-830-km-pipe
[26] http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/torontopipeline/2014/02/22/enbridge_line_9_w5_uncovers_unreported_spills_alarming_communities_along_830km_pipe.html
[27] https://www.sej.org/publications/watchdog-tipsheet/legal-battle-looms-drone-newsgathering
[28] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication/watchdog-tipsheet
[29] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/technology
[30] https://www.sej.org/headlines/official-who-raised-safety-concerns-hanford-nuclear-site-fired
[31] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/nuclear-power/radiation
[32] http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-hanford-whistleblower-fired-20140218,0,7410182.story#axzz2tg78qhzx
[33] https://www.sej.org/publications/sejournal-wi14/finding-funders-users-guide-foundation-backed-journalism
[34] https://www.sej.org/publications/sejournal/sejournal-winter-2014-vol-23-no-4
[35] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication-types/freelance-files
[36] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/journalism/media?page=339
[37] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/journalism/media?page=336
[38] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/journalism/media?page=337
[39] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/journalism/media?page=338
[40] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/journalism/media?page=341
[41] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/journalism/media?page=342
[42] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/journalism/media?page=343
[43] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/journalism/media?page=344
[44] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/journalism/media?page=456