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THE BILLBOARD
China Power Plant, Inner Mongolia. © Gary Braasch. All rights reserved.
China Power Plant, Inner Mongolia. © Photo courtesy Gary Braasch. Click to enlarge.
• IMPORTANT NOTICE: SEJ.org upgrade in process! Questions? Trouble logging in? Details...
• Event of the week: Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry World Congress
• SEJ joins in suit on officials' e-mails
• What's where on SEJ.org???
• SEJ's Climate change guide
• SEJ's Canada resources
• SEJournal excerpt: Interview with Freelancer Lisa Margonelli
• Covering Climate Change: A Seminar Snapshot by SEJ and NewsU
• JournalismTraining.org
• Online membership renewal and donations
• SEJ wants you: How to get involved and make a difference for environmental journalism
News feeds available for selected SEJ contentNews feeds available for selected SEJ web content
Story ideas from TipSheet NEW 7/2/08
As the Bush administration closes out its terms in office, a number of rules, policies, orders, and other actions related to the environment are expected by Jan. 19, 2009. You'll find this, as well as other environmental story ideas, in the latest issue of TipSheet.
Calendar event of the week NEW 6/30/08
Aug. 3-7, 2008: The 5th World Congress of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry takes place in Sydney, Australia. Convening roughly every 4-5 years, topics to be covered at this event include: the study, analysis, and solution of environmental problems; the management and regulation of natural resources; sustainable development; environmental toxicology; and human-health effects of pollutants. Contact: Greg Schiefer, Exec. Director, SETAC North America, 1010 North 12th Avenue, Pensacola, FL 32501-3370. Phone: 850-469-1500. Fax: 850-469-9778.

Looking for current events on interesting environmental topics? The above event is this week's features from SEJ's popular Environmental Events Calendar, which is emailed weekly to members, and is available online here. Know of an upcoming event that may be of interest to environmental journalists? You'll also find a simple submission form you can use to add an event to the listing.

Link of the week NEW 6/30/08
Photographer/SEJ member Gary Braasch's World View of Global Warming is a non-commercial archive of global warming photo-documentation and information since 2002.

Need fast facts or key sources on deadline? The above link is just one of the more than 1,500 in SEJ's growing links library. We mine the web and rate web sites based on their usefulness to journalists. Search by key word or browse by category.

Excerpt from SEJournal
Interview with Freelancer Lisa Margonelli
By BILL DAWSON
Lisa Margonelli, an Oakland, CA-based freelance journalist, a fellow of the New America Foundation, and the author of Oil on the Brain, gives SEJournal the inside story on how the details of people's lives can reveal a complex story beyond the facts. Full story.

Spring 2008
Table of Contents
NOTE: All of the other articles in the Spring 2008 SEJournal are available to members only here (information on joining SEJ). Subscribers receive a hard and/or e-copy (information on subscribing). Subscribers: Watch your email — or contact SEJ for an e-copy. Previous issues of SEJournal are available to both members and non-members here.

SEJournal, the quarterly newsletter of the Society of Environmental Journalists, offers advice, research, tips and tools to better your writing. With a fresh new look, the Web Edition of SEJournal Spring 2008 has lots of clickable web addresses for quick reference and magnificent color photos. (Mac users: Note that URLs will not be hotlinked if you're using Preview. Open the PDF in Adobe Reader for clickable links.)

SEJ tracks threats to freedom of information

On May 6, 2008, SEJ joined other journalism groups in filing a "friend of the court" brief in a Washington state lawsuit seeking access to public officials' e-mails under state law. Many reporters use e-mail messages obtained by FOIA requests or other means as the basis for high-impact stories about government corruption or malfeasance. Full details.

Also, check out the latest issue of SEJ's award-winning FOI publication, WatchDog Tipsheet, with searchable archives of story ideas, articles, updates, events and other information with a focus on FOI issues of concern to environmental journalists in both the United States and Canada. It includes a database of State FOI Resources and Actions.

SEJ and NewsU collaborations
Covering Climate Change seminar snapshot graphic
News University, the Poynter Institute's innovative e-learning center that helps journalists through self-directed training, has made available "Covering Climate Change: A Seminar Snapshot," at no cost. This Seminar Snapshot, produced in partnership with the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) and the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting, is an edited version of the full-day News Executive Roundtable on Climate Change, a pre-conference event for SEJ's 2007 annual conference at Stanford University. Get ideas for innovative environmental coverage, understand how human activity is impacting the climate, see what effect climate change has on plants and animals and find out more about energy policy and conservation.

Covering Water Quality graphic
Another free course, available through partnership between SEJ and the Poynter Institute for Media Studies/NewsU, is "Covering Water Quality." The course, instructed by Amy Gahran on behalf of SEJ, helps participants gain a better understanding of the issues surrounding the quality of drinking water.
Resources for reporting on climate change
SEJ has created a special reporters' online resource section devoted to climate — Climate Change: A Guide to the Information and Disinformation. It is drawn from the Rolodexes, notebooks, and background files of some of the top reporters in the business. The guide is, and will remain, a work in progress. Let us know what you think.
SEJ outreach programs
Are you looking for ways to improve environmental coverage in your newsroom? SEJ can help, with our speaker's bureau, mentoring program and publications such as TipSheet and our environmental events calendar. Contact the SEJ office for more details.
An organization of journalists, for journalists
SEJ2007 conference attendees learn about "Fire Ecology and Management within an Urban-Wildland Interface," one of 10 Sunday tours at Stanford University's Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve.
Photo by Beth Parke. Click to enlarge.
With more than 1,300 members, SEJ is North America's only organization of journalists who cover the environment. Membership is open to journalists, educators and students. Non-members may attend SEJ's conferences, subscribe to the quarterly SEJournal or contact SEJ members via our mailing list or our e-mail service. Surf our pages for everything you want to know about environmental reporting.

THE source for journalists reporting on the environment
JournalismTraining.org
JournalismTraining.org logo
JournalismTraining.org was created to provide a centralized location for journalists seeking information about professional development opportunities. The site brings together those seeking training and those best equipped to provide it. You'll find a searchable database of local, regional and national journalism training programs arranged to easily find, compare and determine which training best meets your individual needs. The project was developed by the Society of Professional Journalists for the Council of National Journalism Organizations (CNJO), of which SEJ is an affiliate. Brochure (requires free Adobe Acrobat ® reader).

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SEJ EVENT COVERAGE
Multimedia coverage for:
• Covering Climate: The Health Angle (April 30)
• Green Business — Sorting Fact from Hype (April 28)
• Political Climate: Environment, Energy & the 2008 Election (April 11)
JOURNALISM EVENTS
AND OPPORTUNITIES:

July 5, 2008: DEADLINE for Colombia in the Biodiversity Reporting Award. Additional 2008 deadlines may include: Caucasus Region, Guyana, and Madagascar.

July 18, 2008: DEADLINE for radio producers and audio artists to enter the Third Coast Festival/Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition with programs that document the world we live in. Cash prizes in various categories including, new in 2008, Best News Feature.

July 22, 2008: DEADLINE to apply for the Willamette Valley Institute, September 5-13. The final 2008 Institutes for Journalism & Natural Resources expedition will explore watersheds from the headwaters of the Willamette River to Portland. If you report on forest and conservation history, by applying for an IJNR expedition, you are automatically considered for the Forest History Society's annual Collier Journalism Award. Prize consists of tuition for the IJNR expedition plus an expenses-paid visit to the FHS Library and Archives in Durham, NC.

July 30, 2008: DEADLINE to enter the Excellence in Urban Journalism Award, co-sponsored by the Enterprise Foundation and the Freedom Forum, for quality reporting on major issues facing U.S. urban areas, particularly inner cities. Cash prizes.

July 31, 2008: DEADLINE to apply for the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism at The Ohio State University, offering two types of fellowships. Kiplinger Fellows and Knight Digital Media and Public Affairs Fellows learn how to produce powerful multimedia projects. Includes stipend, benefits, tuition.

August 1, 2008: DEADLINE to apply for SEJ's Rivlin Freelance Fellowships to attend our 18th annual conference, October 15-19, 2008, in Roanoke, VA. SEJ members only. How-to-join/membership benefits

August 1, 2008: DEADLINE to enter the AAAS Science Journalism Awards for outstanding reporting in the sciences, mathematics and engineering. Except for the Children's Science News award, which is open to international media outlets, the work must have been published, broadcast or posted online in the US by US media. Cash prizes.

August 1, 2008: DEADLINE to enter the Capitolbeat State House Reporting Contest, sponsored by the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors. Entries must have been published between June 1, 2007, through July 31, 2008. Includes a category for college news organizations.

August 1, 2008: DEADLINE to apply for two of the Fulbright Scholar Programs, administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars. Senior scholars may apply for the Distinguished Chairs Program. Eligible fields in the Traditional Program include, but are not limited to, environmental science, peace and conflict resolution, public/global health and urban planning. You can even create your own award if you don't find one that suits. Most assignments in English.

August 15, 2008: DEADLINE for the George Bliss Award, recognizing the best in government-related investigative reporting (radio, television and print) from across the Midwest region (IL, OH, WI & MI). The award highlights the impact of investigative reports as a reform tool within the context of state and local government waste, fraud and corruption. Cash prize.

September 1, 2008: REGULAR DEADLINE for entries to the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. Awards and cash prizes for non-fiction films and videos of all genres, subject matter, lengths and production dates. Final deadline: October 20, 2008.

MORE: Journalism awards, fellowships/workshops and a calendar of environmental events.

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