ournal Spring 2011, Vol. 21 No. 1 A Sick Sea A remembrance of Bill Freudenburg Enviro stories reap awards New global warming web venture A quarterly publication of the Society of Environmental Journalists SEJournal Spring 2011, Vol. 21 No. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS features Remembering Bill: Statistician and thinker showed that finding key page 5 bad actor would produce greatest results By Roger Witherspoon Fund for Environmental Journalism grows page 9 page 5 Environmental stories reap major national prizes page 11 Inside Story: Move from daily newspaper job rewards science page 14 writer and book author By Bill Dawson Environment, staple of documentaries, inches into dramas at page 16 Sundance Film Festival By JoAnn M. Valenti page 16 President’s Report: SEJ promotes science-journalism connection, page 4 columns alters funding policy to build more stable organization By Carolyn Whetzel E-Biz Reporting: For climate change reporters, here’s an essential reading list page 12 By Bud Ward Reporter’s Toolbox: So little time, so stop procrastinating page 18 Here are some helpful tips to better manage your time and energy By Naomi Lubick The Beat: Northwestern University students produce impressive series on page 20 climate change threats to national security By Bill Dawson SEJ News: SEJ launches new online freelance directory to connect page 22 writers and editors By Sharon Oosthoek Stoking the EJ Conversation SEJ looks at social media upgrades and wants members’ input Inviting though the ocean may appear at By Peter Fairley places like Christmas Island in the Pacific 1,300 miles south of Hawaii, there’s no SEJ supporters give to commemorate SEJ’s 20th anniversary guarantee that it’s healthy. See related by Beth Parke story on page 14. Photo: © Amy Gulick, SEJ Contributing Photographer. Media on the Move: SEJ members show it pays to “go for it” page 23 By Judy Fahys Book Shelf Book Reviews page 24 3 SEJournal Spring 2011 SEJ President’s Report SEJ promotes science-journalism connection, alters funding policy to build more stable organization By CAROLYN WHETZEL SEJ ushered in 2011 with an event at the University of of Directors voted Jan 29 to revise the organization’s financial California, Santa Barbara that explored the communication policies to allow limited gifts of unrestricted general support from challenges journalists and scientists face. anyone who supports SEJ’s mission. SEJ’s Board of Directors, other SEJ members, and scientists The revised policy changes the SEJ board’s longstanding at UCSB’s Bren School of Environmental Science and Manage- prohibition on accepting gifts or grants of any kind from govern- ment participated in the Jan. 28 roundtable discussion which ment sources, environmental interests, non-media companies, or focused on how to meld the different worlds in which journalists business associations. and scientists work toward a shared goal of advancing public Under the new policy, SEJ may now accept unrestricted understanding of environmental issues. contributions of general support from any person, group, business Scientists voiced their concerns about being misquoted or or other entity that wants to strengthen the future of SEJ and having their comments or research misinterpreted, which is why environmental journalism, up to $15,000, about 1.5 percent of they often ask to approve quotes, or sometimes an entire story. The SEJ’s current operating budget, per donor per calendar year. scientists also sought advice on how to cultivate relationships Total donations from this group of new donors will be capped with journalists to promote research they believe is getting too at 20 percent of SEJ’s budget in any given year. As an organiza- little attention. tional goal, SEJ will seek these general support gifts from a range Journalists stressed their need for trusted science sources and of sources representing diverse points of view. information and for quick responses when writing on deadline. The The decision follows years of discussion among board journalists urged the scientists to reach out to reporters, clearly members and within the SEJ community about how SEJ should explain their research, and let journalists know when there are adapt to the short- and long-term challenges to its traditional errors in their reporting. funding model, which is based largely on foundation, media Bringing journalists and scientists together is nothing new for company and university support. SEJ. We’ve been doing it for years at annual and regional A survey of 186 members conducted last July found SEJ’s conferences and for reporting tours to help journalists explore the membership divided over whether the organization should accept work scientists are doing. general support from a diverse array of sources. SEJ would like to expand its effort to build better relationships More than 62 percent of the respondents said such a change between journalists and scientists, possibly by convening similar would be either “much more’’ or “somewhat more’’ acceptable if discussions in public venues or at scientific meetings. Events could SEJ makes clear it is accepting the money with no strings attached focus on coverage of specific news topics, like climate change or and it retains control over its programming. Another 8.2 percent other hot-button environmental issues. SEJ could link these efforts found seeking funds from these new sources “somewhat less with more of our famous reporting tours or visits to laboratories or acceptable’’ even with the “no strings attached’’ policy. Twenty- field work sites to explore cutting edge research or under-reported six members, 14.2 percent of the respondents, disapproved and news stories. 17.6 percent said they would be less likely to remain SEJ Many thanks to UCSB faculty and others for hosting the members if SEJ accepted direct funding from non-media roundtable discussion and the evening event which featured the corporations, government, and environmental groups. showing of Frontline and ProPublica’s “The Spill,’’ followed by a Respondents also provided written comments, some suggest- lively panel discussion with journalists, including ProPublica’s ing SEJ cut programs, raise member dues, and sell services rather Abrahm Lustgarten and Los Angeles Times reporter Bettina than accept such contributions. Boxall, and scientists. This was not an easy decision for the SEJ board, but UCSB Environmental Studies Professor Bill Freudenburg, an one the board believes is needed to build a financially SEJ member, was to be part of the panel to discuss his recent book, sustainable organization. Blowout in the Gulf: The BP Oil Spill Disaster and the Future of “Times have changed,’’ SEJ Founding President Jim Detjen Energy in America. Sadly, Bill succumbed to cancer in late said prior to the vote. “ ... I do think it’s time to move on doing December (see page 5 in this journal for a remembrance of Bill something like this.’’ and his final words to us!) As part of a moving tribute to Bill, his The goal is to increase SEJ’s financial independence by co-author Robert Gramling, professor of sociology at the diversifying and expanding the organization’s potential sources of University of Louisiana, Lafayette, served on the panel. funding without sacrificing SEJ’s fundamental principles of Ultimately the SEJ board was gathered in Santa Barbara to independence, integrity and transparency in its fundraising or its tackle its first business meeting of 2011, the budget meeting. strict firewall between funding sources and SEJ operations. After approving a FY 2011 budget of $918,500, SEJ’s Board continued on page 10 4 SEJournal Spring 2011 Remembering Featuree Bill Freudenburg Statistician and thinker showed that finding key bad actor would produce greatest results By ROGER WITHERSPOON The collaboration started informally enough, over lunch between lectures at UC Santa Barbara in January 2009. He wanted to talk with my wife, Marilyn, and I about the craft of writing and the art of storytelling. Bill Freudenburg was a brilliant statistician and thinker who Professor William Freudenburg, 1951-2010. Photo courtesy University of Cali- used numbers as a tool to decipher patterns in corporate behavior, fornia at Santa Barbara economic and environmental impacts. He had done that type of work for the government, working for seven years as a consultant Weyerhaeuser — and left the other logging companies alone — to the Idaho National Laboratories, looking for patterns in federal they would have realized that owl conservation had nothing to do nuclear operations which led to radioactive contamination in with regional economic decline. surrounding environments, and patterns in cleanup efforts which Bill was comfortable with his findings. His problem was how might lead to more efficient operations. to express them in ways that did not put people to sleep. “But the official Bush Administration policy was that we “We academicians and scientists operate with the premise that were doing a good enough job and don’t have to do another god if we just put our data out there, everyone will see the same things damned thing,” he said. “So they pulled the plug on the project.” we do, and act accordingly,” he said. Unfortunately, that is not the His work there buttressed a gnawing suspicion he had about case. Explaining technical subjects means utilizing storytelling environmental degradation: techniques that incorporate technical detail and draw readers into the discussion. Bill brought us to UCSB to talk to staff • It was wrong to label an industry as dirty or environmentally at the new Center for the Environmental Implications of harmful, and journalists and environmentalists were tackling the Nanotechnology about effectively communicating science to the wrong issue by doing so. media and the public. But over lunch, he said he needed help • If you went after the one bad actor in a given field, about 80% communicating a project he had been working on for more than of the environmental problems could go away.