June 25, 2026, 12:00 pm US Eastern Time. In this Collaborative for Health and Environment (CHE) webinar, award-winning chemical pollution reporters Sharon Lerner of ProPublica and Stéphane Horel of Le Monde will discuss the importance of accurate local reporting on toxic chemicals. Focusing on PFAS “forever chemicals” as an example, the speakers will explore the critical role of journalists in covering chemical health hazards, public decision-making, and industry strategies to influence both policy and science.
With 2026 shaping up to be an exceptional El Niño year, expect lots of record-breaking heat waves and other extreme weather. But climate change will also contribute. Explaining the role of both is essential to complete coverage. Journalist Ethan Brown shares tips and resources for using climate attribution science as a powerful reporting tool. Plus, five questions to ask while covering the next extreme climate event.
Hazmat risk data has long been subject to blackout efforts by industry. And now, Trump administration allies may change the rules to make existing information even harder to get. But Reporter’s Toolbox knows where journalists can still find the goods to support their reporting. Read on to learn about risks to the program in question — and Toolbox workarounds.
This program offers training on data acquisition, cleaning, analysis and visualization led by some of the most skilled data reporters and journalism practitioners in the nation. They teach journalists how to “bulletproof” their data, ensuring accuracy in reporting. New program components focus on how to use AI in data journalism. Following the training week, Senior Fellows mentor reporters as they pair original data analysis with compelling narratives on long neglected or underexplored issues. Apply by July 22.
"In 1782, when the United States adopted the bald eagle as its national symbol, anecdotal accounts stated that the country may have had as many as 100,000 nesting eagles. By the mid-1900s, habitat destruction, illegal shooting, and DDT contamination had driven bald eagles near extinction."
"There’s a new front in the war over the safety of chemicals used to make nonstick pans." "The war over forever chemicals in cookware has seen celebrity chefs, major cookware makers, and state legislatures enter into battle. Now, a new front has opened over advertising claims."
"In the next five years, the Earth is overwhelmingly likely to surge again and again past the international climate threshold set as safe and shatter its hottest-year record along the way, according to new United Nations climate projections."
"Public utility commissions have a ton of influence over utility rate hikes and power plant construction, but only a handful of states let voters decide who’s on them."
"As Staci Hartwell sees it, her community has much more to lose than to gain from the development of a massive data center."
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
First, the good news: A new analysis of global wildfire activity in 2025 shows that the year had the second-lowest area burned since 2002.
But at the same time, the study also revealed that the world experienced some of the most destructive and deadly fire events in recent history, including the catastrophic Los Angeles fires of January 2025 that killed dozens and burned over 12,000 homes.
