If Charles Dickens were alive today to write about the state of environmental journalism, he’d not have to veer far from his previous work to draw inspiration. It is the best and worst of times: the age of preeminence and the age of reduction. It is the age of the highest stakes and smallest payrolls. It’s the age of evaporating watersheds and expanding news deserts.
It’s an invigorating yet uncertain time to report on the environment today.
Talented and motivated journalists are meeting the challenges of reporting on emerging environmental threats. However, there are fewer of them dotted around a shrinking news ecosystem.
The Society of Environmental Journalists provides multiple support channels for those trying to tell the story of the changing climate. The SEJ was founded in 1990 to “strengthen coverage of environment, energy, health and climate news by supporting the journalists who report that news,” according to its website.
Those deeply involved in the organization point to several vital ways the SEJ helps journalists.
Meaghan Parker has been involved with SEJ in one position or another since 2006. She was the executive director for five years before her planned departure in 2023. She is very fond of the organization and remains a member and volunteer. Parker is currently a public policy fellow at Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program and is involved in several environmental organization boards.
“When I first joined SEJ, one of the reasons I joined was because I had no training — formal or otherwise — as a journalist. I was working for a think tank, and we launched a blog. It was in the early days of blogs, and I wanted to learn more about how to do it in a way that was independent and journalistically sound. So I went to the conference, and I thought it was the best conference I had attended. It was way more fun than academic conferences I'd been to and had a great group of very supportive people. Later, I learned that journalists are supportive and help each other in an often competitive business. I always found the SEJ community willing to help with sources, editors, contacts and that kind of thing. Then I became active as a volunteer.”
Over her time with the organization, she had a close view of the state of journalism after the 2008 economic recession, when many newspapers cut back their science beats, preserving more traditional beats.
SEJ’s membership data confirms her assessment. In 1991, the organization had 622 members. Those numbers climbed every year until 2010, when the effects of the economic downturn forced a downward membership trend. Then, in 2014, numbers grew again.
The SEJ reached a new height in membership, with 1,520 members in 2019. When the pandemic hit in 2020, the organization did not remove members for nonpayment, and the number of members reached an all-time high of 1,693. However, the pandemic took its toll the following year, with membership dipping to 1,356 as many newsrooms shifted resources from environmental issues to public health. The SEJ has had quite the bounceback this year, reaching a new milestone of 1,677 members — a new record, not counting 2020, when no memberships were canceled.
Despite the membership accomplishment, SEJ leaders worry people in news desert areas are not getting the information about their local environment that they need.
Luke Runyon, the current president of the board of directors for the SEJ, earns his living as the co-director of The Water Desk at the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado-Boulder, an independent news organization that covers water issues in the western U.S. Runyon helps provide information about water in the Colorado River Basin and the Rio Grande.
News of the drying water basins has punctured the national consciousness as multiple layers of government consider what to do about water depletion during climate change and dramatic population growth in many cities. SEJ also works with an Ag and Water Desk organization focusing on the Mississippi River Basin and offers grants in association with the Report for America program and the University of Missouri School of Journalism.
Some of the country’s most important environmental coverage would not be possible without collaboration among journalists and like-minded organizations. Environmental issues often spill over into other areas of interest, such as public health, energy and agriculture. SEJ partners with some of these cross-over organizations to allocate more resources to journalism projects.
Runyon, the board president, is impressed by the work being done in environmental journalism.
“We’re opening up the entries for all of these awards, and [the quality] is incredible. You know, there’s a huge breadth of work — really in-depth stuff — and incredible journalism is being done. You have one side of the ledger where you can look and say, ‘Wow, there’s amazing work being done. Climate and environmental issues have risen in the ranks regarding what the general public is interested in and curious about.’ Then, on the opposite side of the ledger, our whole industry faces huge financial issues in the age of limited ad revenue. When a news organization faces layoffs or cuts, sometimes environmental coverage is the first to go. And we want to make sure that that's not the case. You know that journalists who face tough economic choices still have some support behind them, and that’s what SEJ can help provide.”
Through the SEJ, journalists can discover resources, such as The Water Desk, to help report important environmental information. Connections are often made through the SEJ’s annual conference, which is the largest event hosted by the organization. However, the organization also hosts smaller regional conferences, which can connect newer journalists with more experienced ones. From there, members can interact with other journalists through listservs and develop friendships. The SEJ provides funding for environmental journalism, including support for beat coverage and individual story grants.
“The committees, the outreach and the amount of contact people have are pretty impressive, partly because a lot of our members end up collaborating with each other,” said current executive director Aparna Mukherjee.
SEJ also sponsors a year-round mentoring program, seminars, webinars, training and other events. It also has a Freedom of Information Task Force that regularly advocates for government transparency and press freedom.
The SEJ’s website provides several guides to help journalists dig deeper. For example, the website has guides for environment + energy, covering climate change solutions and one covering climate issues in the South. It has also looked into the issue of journalist safety after a recent survey showed up to 4% of environmental journalists across the globe have been threatened as a result of their work.
SEJ is now under Mukherjee’s direction. She has plenty of professional experience as a journalist and leader. She is diving into the role and looking for ways to help reach readers where they are.
“We’re thinking much more about what it means to do community-engaged, community-responsive reporting,’ she said. “Especially when I think of the communities on the front lines of climate change. What information do you absolutely need? And what happens in an era of local news deserts?”
Part of SEJ’s plan is to help develop young journalists. Mukherjee advises aspiring journalists who want to pursue stories about the environment to join SEJ and attend the annual conference. There, they can go on trips where journalists show attendees the environmental issues and solutions they’re tackling.
Mukherjee understands that the planet is not the only one undergoing pressure. The business environment for journalism is also facing pressure. To that end, Mukherjee said, “SEJ is here to make sure that we are putting resources into the hands of individual journalists and supporting the news outlets that are trying to do more with less.”
Bob Miller has spent more than 25 years in local newsrooms, including 12 years as an executive editor with Rust Communications. Bob also produces an independent true crime investigative podcast called The Lawless Files.
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