By BILL DAWSON
The Beat usually examines recent coverage of environmental issues. This time around, though, The Beat looks at the environmental beat itself — specifically, at a couple of recent developments related to the training of journalists to cover environmental issues.
The first event was the October announcement that Columbia University was suspending for review its two-year, dual-degree graduate program leading to one master's degree in journalism and another in environmental science.
The digital age of environmental journalism has brought with it an ugly underbelly characterized by increasingly bitter personal exchanges and accusations and a sucking-up of countless hours of productive reporting time and effort. How reporters handle these distractions may shape how well the American public understands, or doesn't understand, the climate challenge they and future generations will face.
As SEJ enters its 20th anniversary year, it's worth remembering why we exist, what principles we started out with in 1990 and still retain, what has changed, and what should change. Read more from SEJ President Christy George.
Every year, an estimated 20,000 Americans die of lung cancer caused by exposure to radon — a naturally occurring radioactive gas that often finds its way into indoor air. So now's a good time to look at the ways radon impacts your audience and how people can protect themselves.
More than 4 of every 10 US lakes are in only fair or poor condition, according to EPA's first national assessment using consistent criteria.
Dozens of sessions on environmental topics are on the agenda at the 2010 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, to be held Feb. 18-22 in San Diego.
