Summer 1997 SEJournal The Quarterly Publication of the Society of Environmental Journalists Vol. 7 No. 2 Interview Dodging Numbers Newspaper has Reporters avoid the population crunch seven reporters By MICHAEL MAHER Typically a story describing urban Many environmental stories chroni- sprawl or disruption of wildlife habitat on environment cle the inevitable collisions between mentions only the land developer as the By CHRIS BOWMAN finite nature and growing human popula- cause of the problem, and ignores the Peter Bhatia, managing editor of tion. Journalists, however, are reluctant role of population growth in providing the Portland Oregonian, explains why to use the ÒPÓ word in covering environ- the market demand that makes land the stateÕs largest mental issues. development possible. A typical water newspaper fosters In a study published in the March shortage story mentions only the drought a commitment to 1997 issue of the journal Population and or the inadequate water conveyance environmental jour- Environment, I analyzed how newspaper infrastructure as a cause, and ignores the nalism unmatched by journalists depicted causality in urban fact that many more people now want any other general sprawl, water shortage, and endangered access to a limited supply of water. circulation newspa- species stories. Using Lexis-Nexis, the The 10.7 percent of stories that do per in the country. worldÕs largest database of full-text acknowledge population growth as a news stories, I dredged up thousands of cause typically fail to mention that popu- Q. The decision to devote seven re- stories and sampled them randomly. I lation stability might be a solution. This porters to writing about the environ- found that just slightly more than one happens because journalists do not advo- ment must be unprecedented, certainly story in 10 mentions population growth cate policy change in news stories. But for a newspaper of your size. Why so as a source of the problem. And less than the reader is left with the impression many reporters on the beat? one story in 100 mentions population that, although population growth might A. When you ask readers what issues stability as a possible solution. (Continued on page 8) (Continued on page 9) In this issue Cyber scribe tells all SEJ News n Board president steps down...........page 3 Writing for the web Online Bits & Bytes n Pulitzer winners describe research via By DAVID TENENBAUM The employer was the National internet resources........................page 14 In 1995, After 10 years of full-time Institute for Science Education, which freelancing, I heard about an intriguing, had a grant from the National Science Features challenging job opening and fired off a Foundation (NSF) to fund, among other n Scientists, journalists cooperation needed rŽsumŽ. The challenge would be writing things, a Web site to cover the science page 16 to convey environmental news ...... on the World Wide Web, a brand-spank- behind the daily news for a general audi- Viewpoints ing-new medium that neither I, nor any- ence. The staff would be three part-time n Industry, advocacy voice opposing body else, understood. specialists in science writing, computers, thoughts on disclosure .................page 18 In case youÕve been snoozing, the and graphics. Science Survey Web is a system of Internet-linked com- From that meager starting point, n Chicken a la dioxin .....................page 20 puters that all babble a common lan- with help from others in the Office of Reporters Toolbox guage. For relatively little money, indi- News and Public Affairs at University of n Las Vegas growth woes............page 21 viduals and organizations can make text, Wisconsin-Madison, we concocted a bi- graphics, even some audio and video weekly feature magazine covering sci- Green beat accessible to anybody with the right ence, health and environment. We aimed n State by state roundup ..............page 28 hardware and Internet connection. (Continued on page 11)) © Copyright 1997 the Society of Environmental Journalists, P.O. Box 27280 Philadelphia, PA 19118 ÒResignation is the only avenueÓ New job poses membership conflicts for SEJ president SEJournal Editor Noel Grove has ly the other board members and staffÑI Thank you for the wonderful opportu- been on my back for weeks because my owe an apology for abandoning the orga- nity. LetÕs keep up the good work. column was late. For once, I had a valid nization at mid-course. I am confident, reason for procrastinating. however, that the remaining board will From the Executive Committee: Saying goodbye is never easy. By the carry on until board elections are held at During the eight years since a group of time you read this I will have resigned the annual meeting in Tucson. I am, of veteran journalists including Rae Tyson from the board, and the presidency of an course, going to do all I can to make the decided to create SEJ, Tyson has been vital organization I helped create. transition as seamless as possible. to its evolution as one of the nationÕs most It has not been an easy decision. And The unsaid part of all this is that I also vibrant journalism organizations. this, in essence my farewell to the presi- have supreme confidence in SEJ Tyson brought a statesman-like pres- dency, is certainly not easy to write. Executive Director Beth Parke and her ence to every role he accepted, from mem- bership chairman to president. His quiet wis- Let me explain how all this came staff as the organization works through dom, focused leadership and institutional about. Most of you know that I left USA this difficult period. And it isnÕt just my memory will be missed when the board Today in February after nearly two resignation that makes this a challenging meets to debate difficult issues. decades as an environmental reporter and time for SEJ. As Tyson has often said, an associate editor for the Gannett chain. I said then membership entitles him to participate fully in SEJÕs activities and program committees; the that I hoped to stay in the environmental Report from the only exception is that he canÕt be president or reporting business. And I will. vote for SEJÕs next one. We hope he will con- I have accepted a job as societyÕs president tinue to volunteer his talents. editor/reporter for Environmental Science Upon TysonÕs formal resignation on & Technology, an excellent magazine pro- Tuesday, July 1, Marla Cone assumed the duced by the American Chemical Society. duties of acting president pending the elec- tion of a new SEJ president at the boardÕs It is a job that will allow me to continue previously scheduled meeting on July 18-19 writing about the environment while giv- in Los Angeles. According to the societyÕs ing me an opportunity to work in close bylaws, in the event of the presidentÕs resig- harmony with scientists and chemical nation, the societyÕs Òfirst vice president engineers. For those of you unfamiliar (Cone) and second vice president (Kevin with ACS, it is the worldÕs largest scientif- Carmody), in that order, shall perform the duties of president.Ó ic society, a non-profit organization based By The bylaws also require that the board, in the heart of Washington, D.C. Rae at its subsequent meeting, fill a vacancy in But the SEJ bylaws as written, and Tyson any officer position for the remainder of the interpreted, disqualify me from active unexpired term. Thus, by the time most of membership. Once I accepted the job at We are wrestling with perplexing you read this, SEJ will have a new president who will serve at least until October. ACS. I automatically became an associate issues related to membership. We are fac- Following the board election at the annu- member, a status that does not allow me ing some financial challenges because sev- al meeting in Tucson in October, the board to hold office in SEJ. I will, of course, eral of our major foundation grants are will, as it does each year, fill all five officer remain a loyal member and do what I nearing an end. And we are trying to initi- positions for the next year. can to further the mission of SEJ. There ate and maintain some of the most ambi- Although the society faces some chal- are many ways to serve other than on tious outreach and education programs in lenges, as Tyson outlines above, it also has an experienced professional staff in place to the board. the organizationÕs history. assure that member services are not inter- Ironically, as one of the founders I On the other hand, my departure from rupted during times of transition. SEJ has helped write those bylaws. As vice presi- the board means that new leadership must evolved far beyond the point where Tyson dent of the board, I was until this year the step forward to fill the void. I am confi- and the other co-founders literally ran the chief enforcer and interpreter of SEJÕs dent that new leaders will take this organi- organization out of desk drawers with a mail- membership criteria. To avoid even the zation to new heights. In a sense, it is time ing address borrowed from Scripps HowardÕs Washington, D.C., news bureau. Not to vaguest appearance of impropriety, I for a change, though I would have pre- diminish Tyson contributions, but SEJ is now decided that resignation is the only ave- ferred not to force the issue this way. far bigger than any individual officer or mem- nue available to me. I also recused my- For those of you who have given your ber of the boardÑ because the society draws self from any discussion involving possi- time and energy to SEJ, I want to thank it strength collectively, from its members.