Reporters Toolbox

Hazardous waste and floodwaters don’t typically mix well together. So when a Michigan dam recently burst, and flooded not just the local community, but also threatened a nearby Superfund site, it prompted Reporter’s Toolbox to look at how environmental journalists could track similar threats in their areas, especially as climate change raises the risks of similar disasters.

With drought can come fire, and with megadrought, routine reporting becomes disaster headlines. Reporter’s Toolbox gets you to the bottom of the drought data sources that help determine what’s ahead for your region, sorting through the complicated set of federal drought monitoring agencies and resources.

Reporting the COVID-19 pandemic may mean telling environmental stories, while using the best data to do it. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox spotlights three key resources to capture a detailed look at where and who the coronavirus is striking, and how it connects to the environment: a dashboard, an ambitious data platform and an unheralded tool for uncovering environmental injustice. 

Tracking the oil market — or more precisely, the price of oil — will tell you a great deal about environmental issues, whether it be fracking, pipelines, land use, toxic emissions or more. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox helps you follow the data for your stories. Plus, a Backgrounder on Big Oil and how it drives not just energy but environment stories.

If reporting on the coronavirus crisis is off your usual beat, Reporter's Toolbox has help — a compilation of resource guides for reporters covering this historic public health emergency. Check out useful links from journalism associations and other news media bodies, as well as info about open information under COVID-19, international journalism resources and more.

As our elected representatives throw themselves into a frenzy of election-year legislative action, reporters can easily fall behind on key environmental and energy measures moving through Congress or state legislatures. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox offers up a way to stay on top of the process — by using the plethora of available bill trackers. 

Newsroom resources may be tighter than ever, but accountability journalism just got a big boost. A guest Reporter’s Toolbox outlines a massive new database of databases collected by the Investigative Reporting Workshop. See how it can be used for your environmental reporting (such as to look up contributions by actor/activist Mark Ruffalo, pictured). Plus, pitch your own ideas for additional datasets.

Hundreds of U.S. dams are at risk, and the Associated Press undertook a massive two-year-long investigative reporting project to gather and sort data that would identify those presenting the greatest hazards. In this guest Reporter’s Toolbox, AP data journalist Michelle Minkoff details the news service’s painstaking process, its striking findings and the impact of its reporting. Plus, key lessons learned for other data news projects.

It may be time to dive into the deep end of the ocean for environmental stories, where big vessels and small are often involved in spills, illegal fishing or more. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox looks into emerging ship-tracker services that offer data to help trace the source of environmental damage, and that can help create some eye-popping visuals.

As public concern about climate change grows, journalists face tough challenges in telling the story well, argues one climate communications expert. But as the climate beat takes on increased urgency, new means are becoming available to better report it, including localized content, explainers and workshops. Tap into these expanding climate resources. Plus, tips on climate “talk.”