Dear SEJ Members,
I've learned a lot from this passionate group since I first became a member nearly a decade ago. I’m running for the board because I want to help SEJ support and advocate for a new generation of journalists and audiences.
Like many of us, I found my way into environmental journalism through small opportunities: An internship, a reporting assignment, a new beat. At SEJ, I found a supportive, knowledgeable community that is dedicated to the beat and generous in sharing ideas and expertise.
As a board member, I will seek to expand opportunities for all environmental journalists as we face an array of obstacles, from dwindling local newsrooms and revenue to political attacks on journalists and the truth itself.
As a board member, I will push for this organization to be a fierce advocate and go-to resource for all members, including local reporters, student journalists, freelancers and those that may not consider themselves environmental reporters but need our support.
I would like to see more craft-oriented conference sessions and workshops to help members hone their journalism skills and regional chapters to bring us together in smaller, local groups. I'd also like to increase our collaboration with other journalism groups to make more training available to members, while offering our support in incorporating climate and environmental science and policy into weather, politics and business stories and other coverage where it is often lacking.
I will bring to the board my perspective as someone with more than 15 years of professional journalism experience, most of it as an environmental reporter in California. I will stand up for our rights and values, including our independence, our role in speaking truth to power, for government transparency and for diversity, equity and inclusion in all that we do. I will champion SEJ and its financial future. I will listen and work with you to help make it the organization you want it to be.
I will advocate for communities of color that continue to be underrepresented in our profession and our coverage, because of longstanding racism and discrimination. SEJ has a long way to go in reflecting the communities we serve, and I will push to advance and build on efforts to expand our membership and outreach.
Tony Barboza
Long Beach, California
About me:
Tony Barboza is an environment reporter for the Los Angeles Times, where he has covered air pollution, climate change, environmental health and coastal resources, among other topics. He was born and raised in Colorado and began his journalism career as an intern at High Country News. Tony is a Pomona College graduate and joined the L.A. Times in 2006 as part of its Minority Editorial Training Program. He has spent the last several years as a beat reporter covering air quality in the nation's smoggiest region, focusing on the disproportionate impacts in environmental justice communities hit hardest by health-damaging pollution.
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