Diversity Initiatives at SEJ Conferences

Boise, Idaho: September 16, 19, 23, 26 and 30, 2020 (virtual)

• Moving Beyond Stereotypes: Smart and Ethical Reporting on Public Land
• Agriculture, Climate Change and Farmworker Rights in Idaho

 

Fort Collins, Colorado 2019

• Foundation funding supported journalists covering Native American and Hispanic communities in the Western U.S.
• Implemented membership swaps with the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA) and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ).
• Events:
  1. "Workshop 1. Covering Indian Country, Public Lands and Environmental Justice in the West"
  2. "Tour 8. Environmental Justice in Globeville and Elyria-Swansea"
  3. "Covering Indian Country and Tribal Affairs"
  4. "True West, True Stories: Why a Rainbow of Voices Is Missing From Our Federal Lands Coverage and How Redirecting Our Attention Will Mean Smarter Stories"
  5. "Invisible Pollution, Invisible People: Covering Controversial Hormone-Mimicking Chemicals"

 

Flint, Michigan 2018

• An all-day workshop brought together members of the Flint community with reporters covering the environment.
• A rich track on environmental justice covered issues and reporting in Native American, Hispanic and African-American communities.
  1. "Gasoline, Garbage and Greenery in Detroit"
  2. "Flint: Environmental Injustice in Context"
  3. "Indigenous Rights: The State of Environmental Sovereignty"
  4. "Diversity Within Environmental Groups: Has Anything Changed?"
  5. "Flint to the World: Water Is a Human Right"
  6. "Unheard Voices: Would They Have Mattered When the Flint Story Broke?"
  7. "Elevating and Improving Our Reporting on Environmental Justice Issues"
• Foundation funding supported the participation of a number of diverse speakers.

 

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 2017

• SEJ partnered with the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation on our farm bill workshop, and opening dinner and reception at the August Wilson Center for African-American Culture, where scores of local journalists and community leaders joined us for a plenary session on the state of environmental justice.
• Special tracks on environmental justice included:
  1. "Tribal Nations Take a Stand"
  2. "Environmental Justice in the Age of Trump"
  3. "Building Sources and Trust in the Environmental Justice World"
  4. "Expanding the Environmental Justice Tent"

 

Norman, Oklahoma 2015

• SEJ partnered with the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA).
• Three separate tours went to various tribal lands and facilities.
• Special tracks highlighted Native American issues:
  1. "Indians 101: The Law and the Land"
  2. "Environmental Justice Today: From the Plains to the Streets"
  3. "Conservation and Mineral Extraction on Native Lands"
  4. "Indian Environmental Law: Flexing Legal Muscle Beyond Reservation Lands"
• We also offered diversity fellowships.

 

New Orleans 2014 and Chattanooga 2013

• Twenty journalists from Africa and Southeast/South Asia participated in all-day workshops and other sessions on reporting on developing country environment, gender and health challenges.

 

Miami, Florida 2011

• SEJ partnered with the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) on the conference, providing the group free space at the Intercontinental Miami Hotel for their board meeting and several sessions that they organized, as well as access to our event for their members.
• Tracks, workshops and tours explored the Latin American/Caribbean diaspora.

 

Missoula, Montana 2010

• Special tracks and all-day tours highlighted Native American issues.

 

Austin, Texas 2005

• A Spanish-language panel track included simultaneous translation
• A networking group linking U.S.-Mexican journalists was launched.

 

Boulder, Colorado 1991 (SEJ's 1st annual conference)

• SEJ conference director Jay Letto organized and moderated possibly the first session at a journalism conference on environmental justice, known as environmental racism at that time. (Letto had organized a couple of small press conference events previously in New York City when he worked at SIPI after Ben Chavis of the Urban League declared environmental groups to be racist in their hiring and in choosing the issues on which they focus.)