Find ways to enhance your digital storytelling with the first in a series of Reporter's Toolbox columns that look at the new generation of quick-to-learn, easy-to-use techniques. This week, we look at powerful (and free) tools found on some of the biggest social media sites: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.
As some warned, federal environmental agencies have begun to purge web info on topics like climate change. WatchDog TipSheet has that story, plus items about an unusual libel lawsuit, a news outfit using satellite for groundtruthing, a new source of online water data, how journalists can protect against surveillance and more.
The 2017 hurricane season officially begins this week and experts say it may be worse than usual. So the latest TipSheet has sources and tools to help you prepare for your hurricane coverage. Understand the importance of landfall and storm path, find out about this year's big wild card, and get tips for staying safe.
"'Climate change' is out. 'Resilience' is in. 'Victims of domestic violence' are now 'victims of crime.' Foreign aid for refugee rights has become aid to protect 'national security.' 'Clean energy investment' has been transformed into just plain 'energy' investment."
"On May 23, 2017, The Center for Biological Diversity filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration, demanding it reveal records of its censorship of government employees in relation to climate change topics. With this suit, The Center is following up on still-unanswered Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests it filed in March, requesting facts pertaining to the Administration’s climate change censorship."
Flooding is no longer just a local disaster story. As the phenomenon worsens and spreads, it simultaneously raises issues like development, insurance, stormwater management and climate change. The latest TipSheet runs down longer-term angles of flooding, and offers sources and tools to better cover your own flood stories.
"On Thursday, a group of scientists, including three working for the U.S. Geological Survey, published a paper that highlighted the link between sea-level rise and global climate change, arguing that previously studies may have underestimated the risk flooding poses to coastal communities."
SEJ brought 44 member journalists to Dallas, Texas, April 20-23, 2017 for an expenses-paid workshop to examine the changing landscape of environmental regulation. Attendees heard from top experts in environmental law and the science of communicating to news consumers, as well as receiving training in FOIA, databases and key digital storytelling tools. Here are resources and tools from the workshop to aid you in your reporting. Photo: UC Berkeley prof/linguist George Lakoff; courtesy of Dale Willman.
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