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SEJournal is the weekly digital news magazine of the Society of Environmental Journalists. SEJ members are automatically subscribed. Nonmembers may subscribe using the link below. Send questions, comments, story ideas, articles, news briefs and tips to Editor Adam Glenn at sejournaleditor@sej.org. Or contact Glenn if you're interested in joining the SEJournal volunteer editorial staff.

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October 18, 2023

  • Reporting on environmental stories often leads to the state legislature, where key material can be frustratingly hard to access. Whether that’s because the state is deliberately hiding information, has poor systems for sharing it or isn’t even tracking it, there are ways to get what you need. Four seasoned environment reporters offer tips, tricks and commiseration.

  • If you’re harboring serious doubts about the climate future but want to be prepared to cover it, the latest Reporter’s Toolbox offers up a seasonably ghoulish list of a dozen and a half great visualization sources to help tell the story. And lest it leave you spooked, remember, as the saying goes, everything will be OK in the end. And if it's not OK, it's not the end.

October 11, 2023

  • In the first of a two-parter for our 2024 Journalists’ Guide to Environment & Energy, TipSheet looks at what climate-driven disasters mean for the home insurance market. Storms, floods and fire rip through communities, yet a federal insurance program falls short, lawmakers shy away from real reform and insurers grow hesitant to cover the risks, while homeowners often attempt to rebuild in the same problematic locales. Plus, see part two on extreme weather and insurance.

  • SEJournal looks ahead to key issues in the coming year with our eighth annual Journalists’ Guide to Environment + Energy. In the 2024 special report, we offer a series of forward-focused TipSheets and Backgrounders, plus an overview analysis and coverage from the Society of Environmental Journalists' year-ahead roundtable in Washington, D.C.

October 4, 2023

  • How did the Lahaina wildfire spark an AI-driven influence campaign out of China? Perhaps a technological leap. Or perhaps, the new WatchDog Opinion column suggests, a natural evolution of a decades-old disinformation playbook with roots in a war against science and culminating in climate denial. A look at the disturbing prospects and a plea for journalists not to sidestep the phenomenon but to cover it.

  • For reporters seeking stories that connect environmental and health issues, there may be no better — or more wide-ranging — place to start than with high-quality data from the Centers for Disease Control’s wide range of datasets. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox looks into where the CDC’s data originates from and how that affects its usefulness, and offers up a helpful overview of CDC data surveys.

  • In the Coachella Valley east of Los Angeles, the massive Salton Sea is rapidly drying up, threatening vulnerable immigrant communities in a growing toxic environment. The Living Downstream podcast reported extensively on these hazards, winning third place in the Society of Environmental Journalists’ Awards for Reporting on the Environment’s explanatory reporting, small, category, in 2022. Inside Story spoke with one of the prizewinners.

September 27, 2023

  • Billions of dollars in federal funding to get rid of lead pipes is only the beginning — now the pipes have to be located, removed and replaced. And the latest TipSheet says that’s a story that’s found in many U.S. communities, so is ripe for local reporting. Here’s the backstory and why it matters, along with more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources.

  • As hurricane season ramps up, how are the disaster planners considering those with disabilities in your community? Texas-based journalist Greg Harman shares the story of one group that sued their city over claims it failed to properly prepare. And he extracts some rules of thumb to help determine if emergency planners are taking those with disabilities into consideration where you are.

  • With a dozen books under his belt, environmental writer and Great Lakes policy expert Dave Dempsey is ready to put away his pen. But not before sharing important lessons from his career, how he found hope amid the destruction and how he sees journalism succeeding. BookShelf contributor Gary Wilson talks with the author for our occasional “Between the Lines” interview series.

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