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TipSheet is a biweekly source for story ideas, background, interview leads and reporting tools for journalists who cover news of the environment.

For questions and comments, or to suggest future TipSheets, email the TipSheet Editor Joseph A. Davis at sejournaleditor@sej.org.

Journalists can receive TipSheet free by subscribing to the SEJournal Online, the digital news magazine of the Society of Environmental Journalists. Subscribe to the e-newsletter here. TipSheet is also available through the searchable archive below and via RSS feed.

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Latest TipSheet Items

January 24, 2024

  • Drainage Infrastructure Leads to Wet Basement Stories

    Nothing may seem more personal than a home flooded by heavy rains. But the latest TipSheet points out that for local environmental reporters, there’s a bigger story to be told: how your community regulates stormwater and storm sewers, especially in the face of climate change-driven extreme precipitation. More than a dozen reporting ideas and resources.

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January 10, 2024

  • Personal Care Products — Bringing the Problems Home

    Health and environmental concerns about some beauty items — like the use of formaldehyde in certain hair straighteners — have started to emerge as a focus for federal regulation. But as the latest TipSheet points out, the response has been slow and fitful. Meanwhile, here are story ideas and resources to help reporters find local angles for this environmental and public health hazard.

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December 20, 2023

  • Climate Health Impacts Can Multiply Local Story Possibilities

    The connection between global warming and human health is worrying many public health experts, as some climate change-induced ecological shifts have worsened the potential spread of infectious diseases, including in North America. The latest TipSheet takes a closer look at a half-dozen climate-related diseases that environmental journalists might watch for local and regional stories. Plus, resources to report on the issue.

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December 6, 2023

  • How the Simple Backyard Bird Feeder Can Lift Local Environment Reporting

    If a remedy for global environmental woes is needed, look no farther than the feathered creatures that flit colorfully about the local winter landscape, drawn by feeders multiplied by the lockdown. The new TipSheet explores how backyard birding offers opportunities for how-to or why-to stories that can offer deeper ecological insights. Ten story ideas and a half-dozen resources to get you started.

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November 22, 2023

  • Reemerging Wetlands Controversy Brings Local Angles

    Wetlands provide a wide array of ecological and societal benefits. But in the United States, they also represent a morass of conflicting views going back decades on how best to regulate them. Now a recent Supreme Court ruling and proposed federal rules are the source of new discord. The latest TipSheet explores how best to cover the wetlands controversy for your community.

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November 8, 2023

  • Seabed Mining May Dredge Up Real Minerals, Fishy Worries in 2024

    The mining of the ocean floor has stirred up significant debate, much of which clouds the realities of whether and to what degree it would cause ecological harm to one of the world’s greatest resources. This week’s TipSheet looks more closely at the controversy, which may well come to a head in the coming year. The latest entry in SEJournal’s 2024 Journalists’ Guide to Environment and Energy.

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October 25, 2023

October 11, 2023

  • Home Insurance Likely To Be a 2024 Climate Story Near You

    In the first of a two-parter for our 2024 Journalists’ Guide to Environment & Energy, TipSheet looks at what climate-driven disasters mean for the home insurance market. Storms, floods and fire rip through communities, yet a federal insurance program falls short, lawmakers shy away from real reform and insurers grow hesitant to cover the risks, while homeowners often attempt to rebuild in the same problematic locales. Plus, see part two on extreme weather and insurance.

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September 27, 2023

  • Funding To Replace Lead Pipes Is Just the Start of the Story

    Billions of dollars in federal funding to get rid of lead pipes is only the beginning — now the pipes have to be located, removed and replaced. And the latest TipSheet says that’s a story that’s found in many U.S. communities, so is ripe for local reporting. Here’s the backstory and why it matters, along with more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources.

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September 13, 2023

  • Waste Incineration May Put Toxics Into Local Air

    Sometimes on the environment beat, what seems like an old story is perpetually new again. That’s the case with waste incineration, finds the latest TipSheet. Rather than being reduced, incinerators are just being transformed, with the ongoing burning of plastics especially troubling for the environment and public health. Get the backstory on where the regulatory regime may have holes, plus key reporting angles and story ideas.

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SEJournal Online is the digital news magazine of the Society of Environmental Journalists. Learn more about SEJournal Online, including submission, subscription and advertising information.