As part of its periodic survey of the compelling work by digital journalists using data and multimedia, Reporter’s Toolbox looks at some favorite projects in the last year or so. On the list are granular maps and spinning globes, compelling photo essays and clickable storytelling. But the heart of the best digital journalism, Toolbox reminds us, is that it matters. And these do.
Reporting on interconnected ecosystems lends itself to better environmental stories, and so tracing how water moves across landscapes, communities, industries and regulatory schemes can help the public connect the dots. That’s how Annie Ropeik, who helps run the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, sees the watershed beat. She shares expert views and offers insights for environment journalists to use in their reporting.
October 20, 2023 — The Society of Environmental Journalists stands with Flatwater Free Press reporter Yanqi Xu, whose work was dismissed by Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen on the basis of her nationality. In response to Xu’s reporting on high nitrate levels in groundwater on Pillen’s hog farms, the governor said on live radio that he will not read the story because the “author is from Communist China.” Read SEJ's statement.
Advertisement 
