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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

November 6, 2024

  • When Disasters Hit, Nursing Homes Can Be Disasters Waiting To Happen

    In any disaster, among the most vulnerable populations are the residents of nursing homes. Yet many communities may simply not be ready to protect them, despite a complex patchwork of state, federal and local regulatory oversight. That means environmental journalists should get on the case, reporting the risk in their locales, advises the latest TipSheet. Insights, plus a dozen story ideas and reporting resources.

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October 23, 2024

  • Sewage Sludge Can Spread the Harm of Many Toxic Chemicals

    What was once benignly dubbed biosolids is more accurately tagged toxic sludge. And some of it may be finding its way into our food. The latest TipSheet reports how that came to be despite (or perhaps because of) Clean Water Act regulation, and how hard it is to calculate the potential harms. Plus, more than a dozen reporting ideas and resources for this highly localizable story.

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October 9, 2024

  • Will Your Local Dam Turn Deadly in the Next Big Storm?

    The devastating death toll and damage from Hurricane Helene are a dire warning of the risks of extreme weather and flooding. But one notable hazard is that such flooding may overwhelm any one of the thousands of small, neglected U.S. dams. TipSheet examines the issue and offers more than a dozen story angles and reporting resources.

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September 25, 2024

  • Could Beef Be the Route to a Bird Flu Pandemic?

    What goes on the backyard grill may be an important environmental story for any number of reasons. But as the latest TipSheet points out, one especially worrying one at the moment is the possibility that avian flu could jump species and create a public health crisis. Here’s what we know right now, along with story ideas and reporting resources.

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September 11, 2024

  • Eco-Alternatives to the Perfect, Weedless Lawn

    A good and very localizable environmental story is right outside your front door … or at least outside your neighbor’s. Lawns and the myriad ways they are managed can provide a window into wildness, or resource use, or chemical pollution. The latest TipSheet offers more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources, from xeriscaping and butterfly gardens to nurseries and planning boards.

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August 21, 2024

  • Beach Nourishment Offers Challenging Local Environmental Stories

    It’s peak beach season around much of the United States, with its timeless traditions of sunbathing, beach reads, swimming and beachcombing. But nature has its own ideas about shorelines, stripping some beaches and growing others. Humans, too, have their own beach engineering enterprises, with their own environmental impacts. The latest TipSheet helps you cover your local beach scene, with questions to ask, story ideas and reporting resources.

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July 24, 2024

  • Extreme Heat Changes Landscape for Summer Recreation Stories

    Outdoor recreation is a half-trillion-dollar industry in the United States and summer is a peak season for fun. But as the planet warms, the combination of extreme heat and outdoor activity greatly raises the health risk. The latest TipSheet explores more than a half-dozen common pastimes to report on — whether fishing and hiking or picnics and state fairs — that now hold hidden dangers.

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June 26, 2024

  • What Makes Communities More Survivable in Extreme Heat Events?

    When heat waves hit your area, as they did for much of the United States in June, local responses can (and should) go well beyond individual behaviors to address broader area actions — from cool pavements to urban trees. For environmental journalists, that means community-level heat response is an important climate story angle. TipSheet explains, then offers a dozen story ideas, along with reporting resources.

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June 12, 2024

  • Is Your Community Ready for Tornadoes? Are You?

    With more than 100 tornadoes hitting the United States so far this year, the latest TipSheet takes a closer look at how journalists can help their communities better prepare for these damaging and often deadly windstorms. Plus, more than a dozen story ideas and reporting resources, from questions about warning systems and shelters to sources at weather agencies and for tornado-preparedness advice.

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May 29, 2024

  • New PFAS Drinking Water Rule Promises Local Stories

    New federal regulations governing a group of “forever chemicals” under the Safe Drinking Water Act — a rule years in the making — have important implications for local drinking water supplies and, per the latest TipSheet, local environment reporting. A look at the problem with PFAS, the complicated route to its regulation and more than a dozen story ideas and 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.