Facebook logo LinkedIn logo Twitter logo Print HTML logo
Inside Story

SEJournal Online Inside Story banner

Inside Story is a regular question-and-answer feature of SEJournal Online in which we hear from award-winning journalists about the behind-the-scenes practices, ideas and breakthroughs that led to their best work, and their advice to other journalists about how to excel.

For questions and comments, or to suggest future Inside Story features, email Inside Story Co-Editor Rocky Kistner at sejournaleditor@sej.org.

And if you're interesting in joining the SEJournal volunteer editor staff, including as a co-editor of Inside Story, contact Editor Adam Glenn at sejournaleditor@sej.org.

Also be sure to check out past winners of the Society of Environmental Journalists’ Annual Awards for Reporting on the Environment. Here's the list of winners from 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

Public

May 31, 2023

  • On the Front Lines, When Wildfires Turn Personal

    Forest fires have grown increasingly dangerous in a warming climate, a subject freelance journalist Jane Braxton Little has covered extensively in recent years. But her reporting turned personal when the rampaging Dixie Fire destroyed her small California town. As she explains in the new Inside Story Q&A, the wildfire disaster gave her a perspective no reporter would wish for.

    VIEW ARTICLE

May 3, 2023

  • Reporting on the Amazon Rainforest Highlights Accelerating Destruction

    A prize-winning feature from the frontlines of the Amazon rainforest drew accolades in the Society of Environmental Journalists’ most recent awards contest. Judges said the “deeply reported account explains history and present-day politics through the lens of people whose voices are rarely heard in U.S. media.” Bloomberg investigative reporter Jessica Brice shares insights from the joint project, in the latest Inside Story Q&A.

    VIEW ARTICLE

April 5, 2023

  • How Reporting Helped Reverse Collapse of Red Wolf Reintroduction Program

    If the government is already struggling to protect iconic creatures like the endangered red wolf from extinction in the wild, how will it manage with other threatened species? That concern is at the core of an Inside Story Q&A with journalist Jimmy Tobias, whose award-winning feature turned stacks of dry documents into the story of one wolf’s death and helped turn things around. Watch a brief video summary from Tobias of what drove the collapse of the reintroduction program.

    VIEW ARTICLE

March 8, 2023

  • Diving Deeper on the Wetlands Beat Yields Groundbreaking Coverage

    Two journalists covering water policy used a wide range of reporting techniques, from FOIA appeals to on-the-ground reporting, to get at the heart of how problems with wetlands and waterways in the United States are tied to climate change concerns. Inside Story spoke with Hannah Northey and Kevin Bogardus of E&E News about their award-winning beat reporting.

    VIEW ARTICLE

February 8, 2023

  • The Department of Yes — How the Pesticide Industry Corrupted the EPA and Poisoned America

    Many were skeptical that the complex problem of industry influence on regulatory decisions could be understood, let alone explained. But in her deeply reported story on the pesticide industry, journalist Sharon Lerner broke through those barriers with another award-winning story, showing how small, technical decisions can have big consequences. In the latest Inside Story, she shares her approach and lessons learned.

    VIEW ARTICLE

January 11, 2023

  • Winning Over Editors and Others with Award Winners’ Multimedia Nuggets

    If you’re looking to engage key constituencies for your journalism — whether editors, sources, students or people who have been marginalized — a new set of short videos from award-winning journalists (like KESQ's Angela Chen, at left) can serve as a helpful resource. Inside Story has a roadmap of how to make smart use of these video nuggets to, for instance, convince newsroom powerbrokers to give you more time and support for ambitious stories.

    VIEW ARTICLE

November 9, 2022

  • Reporting on Storm Chasing’s ‘Human Side’ Hints at Climate’s Future

    Writer Noah Gallagher Shannon followed scientists into the heart of the megastorms ravaging an agricultural region in Argentina, and in the process learned not just about their high-risk fieldwork and what these massive thunderstorms might tell us about the storms of the future in the United States, but also their impact on affected communities. Find out about his reporting experience in this Inside Story Q&A.

    VIEW ARTICLE

October 5, 2022

  • Beat Reporter’s Coverage Calls Out Natural Gas Proponents

    Electric utilities may sound like a wonky beat, but in the hands of L.A. Times’ Sammy Roth, it became an opportunity to weave together seemingly dry, technical subject matter into a series of award-winning stories on natural gas that captured flash points for climate change, communities of color and energy politics. Roth shares his reporting experience in the latest Inside Story Q&A.

    VIEW ARTICLE

August 24, 2022

  • Reporter Navigates Ethical Questions in Project on Endangered Species, Free Markets

    Rare parrots, captured in the wild and relocated to a European zoo, are at the heart of an award-winning feature that explores the role of private actors in conservation. Journalist Brendan Borrell (pictured, left) talks about the ethical concerns raised by the controversial figure at the heart of his Audubon Magazine piece, and offers advice on making the most of having an investigation scooped.

    VIEW ARTICLE

July 13, 2022

  • Beat Reporter Looks to Get Ahead of the Story

    As Brazil’s wetlands burned and as the country illegally shipped wood from the Amazon and scaled back environmental enforcement amid the pandemic, award-winning journalist Jake Spring of Reuters was there, telling tough, sometimes dangerous stories. Spring shares insights into his “just the facts” reporting, including the surprises and the lessons, and offers some practical advice in this Inside Story Q&A.

    VIEW ARTICLE

Pages

Search Publications

Browse Publications

#SEJ2023 graphic

Advertisements

Advertise with SEJ

 

Subscriptions

SEJournal Online is the digital news magazine of the Society of Environmental Journalists. Learn more about SEJournal Online, including submission, subscription and advertising information.