Government

With climate-related legal disputes playing out worldwide, we could see more environmental journalists facing subpoenas to access their newsgathering materials and reveal their sources. Case in point: the legal battle embroiling a news nonprofit over its coverage of pipeline protests. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press’ Chris Young looks at shield laws and resources to help deal with legal threats to your journalistic integrity.

Pope Francis’ planned history-making trip to the latest global climate conference has been thwarted by illness. But his passionate advocacy for the environment still will be felt through his hot-off-the-press apostolic exhortation about the climate crisis. National Catholic Reporter’s environment correspondent Brian Roewe unpacks the pope’s new eco-document and explains how it relates to international climate diplomacy at and beyond Dubai.

In our annual look-ahead on the environment and energy beat in 2024, we see a bumpy ride on global climate change talks coupled with more climate-driven disasters, even amid the evolving energy transition. And we see possible risks to ocean life from deep sea mining and continuing risks to human life from pollution of air, water and land. Insights in our overview and our full “2024 Journalists’ Guide to Environment & Energy” special report.

When Congress debates funding — or cutting — government programs that deal with environmental and energy issues, journalists on those beats should pay attention. A special Backgrounder, part of our 2024 Journalists’ Guide to Environment and Energy, walks you through the (not so boring) budget process — rules, timelines, dealmaking — to help find the angles on what could be a major story of the coming year. Plus, a primer on budget primers.

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.

The mining of the ocean floor has stirred up significant debate, much of which clouds the realities of whether and to what degree it would cause ecological harm to one of the world’s greatest resources. This week’s TipSheet looks more closely at the controversy, which may well come to a head in the coming year. The latest entry in SEJournal’s 2024 Journalists’ Guide to Environment and Energy.