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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

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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August 23, 2023

  • The Spread of Harmful Algal Blooms Makes News in Multitude of Locales

    As algal blooms (think “red tides” or “dead zones”) grow larger and more frequent, they are emerging not just on the coasts and major estuaries, but in inland lakes and streams. And they cause all kinds of harm, to humans and to the environment. The latest TipSheet has details on how to cover the problem locally, including story ideas and reporting resources.

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July 26, 2023

  • Dangerous Inland Flooding in Reporters’ Forecast

    While much attention is paid to hurricane flooding along the coasts, recent disasters in the Northeast United States brought home the dangers of flooding inland. The latest TipSheet has the basics, plus more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources for local journalists to prepare for coverage of inland floods.

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June 28, 2023

  • Wildfire Smoke — Now a Local Story in Unaccustomed Places

    The harms of air pollutants created by wildfires are clear. What’s lost in the haze, though, is that wildfire smoke can carry those pollutants vast distances, threatening communities that are unfamiliar with the risks. The latest TipSheet explains the dangers and how far-flung wildfire smoke travels, then offers a dozen story ideas plus reporting resources.

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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.