Facebook logo LinkedIn logo Twitter logo Print HTML logo
Features

Features banner

 

SEJournal's regular Features section cover a wide-range of environmentally related topics in a variety of formats, including essays, first-hand accounts of reporting work, news analysis and opinion.

For questions and comments, to suggest future Features or to offer to write one, email SEJournal Associate Editor Frances Backhouse at sejournaleditor@sej.org.

Public

April 13, 2022

  • Houston and Other Disasters at #SEJ2022

    If it often feels like the world of environmental journalism is all dour worry over our collective futures, resident humorist David Helvarg is here to remind you that our present is just as scary — if for different, and funnier, reasons. In his latest lampoon of the Society of Environmental Journalists’ annual conference, Helvarg shares his trademark jests from Houston. Plus, (straighter) reportage from the gathering at the conference coverage page.

    VIEW ARTICLE

March 30, 2022

  • How — And Why —To Avoid Jargon When Covering Climate

    Climate change reporting is sometimes peppered with jargon that confounds rather than clearly communicates. Audiences may miss not just one story’s message, but lose interest in the broader topic. Contributor Rebecca Hersher, a science reporter for National Public Radio, writes how the public’s connection with climate information increases when both journalists and scientists strive to replace elite terminology with simple and accurate language.

    VIEW ARTICLE

February 2, 2022

  • Covering Climate Change in the Forgotten Places: A Moroccan Journalist’s View

    Environmental journalist Khalid Bencherif struggled to bring the emergent effects of climate change to the attention of local audiences facing many other pressing problems. So he told a powerful story grounded in personal experience, traveling to his childhood home in Morocco’s Tafilalet region, where deepening drought is hitting the oases hard and driving many villagers from their homes.

    VIEW ARTICLE

January 26, 2022

December 8, 2021

  • New Reporting Network Aims To Make Connections in the Mississippi Basin

    The Mississippi River and its tributaries drain more than 40% of the continent, but most coverage of environmental stories within the Mississippi Basin is localized and siloed. The recently launched Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk hopes to help news outlets provide region-wide reporting that contextualizes issues like climate change-driven flooding and the Gulf of Mexico dead zone.

    VIEW ARTICLE

November 10, 2021

  • U.N. Summit Lays the Table for Environmental Reporting on Food Systems

    After an 18-month buildup, a one-day U.N. Food Systems Summit earlier this fall generated hundreds of commitments to end global hunger and a dizzying array of alliances dedicated to the cause. Despite controversies surrounding the summit, this groundbreaking event highlighted opportunities for reporting on food and food systems. Award-winning agriculture journalist Chris Clayton shares his insights.

    VIEW ARTICLE

October 6, 2021

  • How Climate Attribution Science Went Mainstream, and What It Means

    A growing body of research shows the links between global warming and extreme weather. And that knowledge can help communities prepare, and assign responsibility for damages. Veteran climate journalist Bob Berwyn lays out the science of climate attribution — for heat waves, flooding, wildfires and, ironically, crop-killing freezes — and discusses its implications for future climate change policy.

    VIEW ARTICLE

August 25, 2021

  • Reporting Innovations Hold Promise for Reporting on Climate Change Amid News Deserts

    Slashed news budgets and staff cuts have left many U.S. newsrooms short on time and resources for deep reporting on climate change and other complex topics. But two innovative projects at The Post and Courier in South Carolina — one enriching breaking news stories and the other fostering news outlet cooperation — aim at filling the void. Acclaimed journalist Tony Bartelme explains.

    VIEW ARTICLE

August 11, 2021

  • Covering New IPCC Reports Helps Explain Gravity of Climate Crisis

    A new science assessment released this week pinpoints more global warming risks, but also represents reporting challenges to environmental journalists working to cover climate change. Veteran climate journalist Bob Berwyn has the latest news from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and advice for reporters working the climate beat. Plus, links to other climate change reporting resources.

    VIEW ARTICLE

July 14, 2021

  • Reporters Reveal True Toll From Texas Winter Storm, Outages

    A reporting team at BuzzFeed used a powerful array of data analysis techniques to arrive at a disturbing conclusion about the wintery devastation in Texas — there were far more deaths than acknowledged. But their investigation didn’t stop there. They tracked down families of the deceased to understand the human toll and pressured government over its accountability. How they got the story for “The Graveyard Doesn’t Lie.”

    VIEW ARTICLE

Pages

Search Publications

Browse Publications

Advertisement

Advertise with SEJ

 

Subscriptions

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