Meet SEJ member Amy Westervelt! Amy is an award-winning investigative journalist and executive producer of the independent podcast production company Critical Frequency, which specializes in reported narrative podcasts.
Journalists who lack a strong science background can find themselves in deep water when reporting environmental stories. How do you avoid over- or understating research findings? What’s the difference between observational and experimental studies? And what about those pesky percentages? Former Washington Post science reporter Rick Weiss and his SciLine colleagues have some answers.
In her early days, freelancer Gloria Dickie aimed high, pitching her dream publication first, as well as offering newsier stories and short features instead of long-form. The formula worked, leading to assignments, a book project and a prestigious staff job. Freelance Files Co-Editor Christine Woodside spoke with Dickie about the lessons of a life as an independent. Plus, a BookShelf review of “Eight Bears” by a fellow bear connoisseur.
While much attention is paid to hurricane flooding along the coasts, recent disasters in the Northeast United States brought home the dangers of flooding inland. The latest TipSheet has the basics, plus more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources for local journalists to prepare for coverage of inland floods.
"When Alicia Griggs steps outside her suburban Fort Lauderdale home, Florida’s latest invasive species comes a-hoppin’ down the street: lionhead rabbits."
"Nearly a dozen wild horses have died in the first 10 days of a big mustang roundup in Nevada, deaths that a Las Vegas congresswoman is calling tragic proof of the urgent need to outlaw helicopters to capture the animals on federal land."
"The Biden administration has pledged to address deadly air pollution disparities in communities of color that resulted from historically racist policy decisions. But its efforts are destined to fail if officials follow through on a decision to dismiss race as a factor to determine where federal aid should be focused, a new report says."
"The U.S. Department of Agriculture has allocated more than $3 billion to help farmers transition to practices that sequester carbon and reduce emissions. But some researchers claim the program can’t measure emissions accurately and is unlikely to achieve its climate goals."
"House Republicans on Wednesday advanced an appropriations bill for federal environmental agencies that would boost development of the same fossil fuels driving the myriad disasters that have ravaged the Northern Hemisphere this year."
"An energy trade association that represents and promotes gas boilers and manufacturers is behind a barrage of negative press attacking heat pumps, DeSmog has learned."
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