SEJ News

Following Donald Trump’s election to a second term, SEJournal revisits our prospective coverage of his upcoming administration. Read what a Trump 2.0 would mean for the environment, take a closer look at how the Justice40 program hangs in balance and whether weather data would be withheld from the public. That, and more WatchDog Opinion columns on prospects under Trump. Plus, Trump-environment headlines.

In this special report, “2025 Journalists’ Guide to Environment + Energy,” the SEJournal looks ahead in our ninth annual guide to key issues in the coming year. Check out the guide’s special forward-focused TipSheets, Backgrounders, WatchDogs, a new EJ TransitionWatch column and more. Plus, watch in the coming weeks for additional entries and, in the new year, an overview analysis and a report from the Society of Environmental Journalists' year-ahead event in Washington, D.C. in late January.

It just wouldn’t be the Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference recap without the waggish tales of SEJ’s resident wit, David Helvarg, who once again this year skewers the lot of us, sparing not a jot of our five days in Philadelphia. Read on and prepare to snicker.

As part of a new initiative for the Society of Environmental Journalists' 2024 annual conference in Philadelphia, PA, from April 3-7, the SEJ Publications team has organized an inaugural student newsroom to provide running coverage throughout the conference and beyond.

Numerous sessions and workshops touched on issues ranging from climate, war and migration to sustainable foods, just transitions and watershed solutions, with viewpoints from luminary scientists and top government officials, plus experts, activists and leading environment reporters. Explore on-the-spot writeups and images from our student reporters.

SEJ Sessions and Workshops: Climate Disinformation | Environmental Consequences of War | Climate Migration Reporting | Rural Reporting | Sustainable Food Systems | Whistleblower Stories | Just Transition for Oil Towns | Watersheds | More

Plus, hundreds of attendees crisscrossed the region on a series of day-long tours, with our student reporters going along for the ride. On-the-scene reporting and images from our student newsroom:

SEJ Tours: From Farmbelt to Pinelands | Revolutionary Raptors | Climate Challenges on Delaware Bayshore | Gap Over Future of Delaware Water Gap | Delaware's ‘Holy Trinity’

Also see SEJ.org’s multimedia coverage, including audio recordings of most conference sessions and videos of the plenary sessions. And view other #SEJ2024 resources, like Instagram highlights and coverage stories.

Top environmental journalists and others at the Society of Environmental Journalists annual “Journalists’ Guide to Environment and Energy” program foresee some challenging realities to cover in 2024, most notably with the ongoing impacts of climate change. Bright signs emerged as well. Read our take, watch the event video and visit our full “2024 Journalists’ Guide to Environment + Energy” special report.

SEJournal looks ahead to key issues in the coming year with our eighth annual Journalists’ Guide to Environment + Energy. In the 2024 special report, we offer a series of forward-focused TipSheets and Backgrounders, plus an overview analysis and coverage from the Society of Environmental Journalists' year-ahead roundtable in Washington, D.C.

SEJournal continues the expansion of its masthead this year with three new column co-editors. Photojournalists Andrew Cullen and Jonathan Hale will take on the editorship of EJ InSight, which focuses on visual journalism. Freelance writer Elyse Hauser will join the staff to co-edit the Freelance File column. Here’s more on them and other news from the SEJournal team.

With the Society of Environmental Journalists’ 32nd annual conference in Boise now behind us, humorist David Helvarg offers a sharp-witted, albeit affectionate, skewering of the five-day gathering, everything from the host state’s politics to the innumerable sessions and the final blowout party. Prepare for punnage. Plus, check out the evolving multimedia coverage of the event, and watch for session audio recordings to come.

Veteran environmental justice reporter and co-founder of The Uproot Project Yessenia Funes has signed on with SEJournal to inaugurate the publication’s new environmental justice column. Funes joins the masthead this spring and expects to publish her first quarterly column this summer. Also, SEJournal has brought on a group of new editors to bolster its Inside Story, FEJ StoryLog, Features and other sections. See who our new volunteers are.

The Society of Environmental Journalists’ annual conference is back to Boise, two-and-a-half years after the first attempt to meet in the mountainous Northwestern state was sidetracked by the COVID pandemic. Co-chairs Tom Michael and Christy George outline the rich schedule of plenaries, panels, tours and other events that are drawing record interest to the April 19-23 program.