Publication Items

When disinformation pollutes the debate over the environment and climate change, it’s on journalists to recognize industry PR spin and push back against misleading narratives and false narratives, argues the latest WatchDog Opinion column. A look at the industry “playbook” to delay government action, at deceptive language on energy and news media’s obligation to approach the endless pledges skeptically.

As awareness grows about how pollution can cause certain cancers, it’s smart to look beyond cancer risk and also explore available information about actual cancer cases. Reporter’s Toolbox explains how extensive data collected regularly in state-level cancer “registries” can take your coverage on the pollution-public health connection to another level. Plus, avoiding pitfalls in reporting possible clusters.

As the dust settles on COP28, climate change news abounds. So to help environmental journalists find and report stories on the beat, SEJ Publications continues to expand its growing Climate Change Resource Guide. Explore dozens of new information sources in the just-added Disaster and Extreme Weather section. Plus, hundreds of other topical resources and more in the overarching Guide, including on deadline reporting, local reporting, science 101s, key sources and experts, news sources, and a policy and advocacy library.

The history of environmental racism is a long one in the United States, far longer than the efforts to address the problem. But reporting on environmental justice continues to tick upwards, and an analysis in the latest Backgrounder points to promising progress, explaining why for journalists the year ahead may yield important stories, whether about future footholds or new missteps.