Keep Environmental Journalism strong

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I wasn’t going to post a year-end plea on behalf of the Society of Environmental Journalists this year, where I served as the President until earlier this month. So many asks at this year-end moment, and in such a year where the needs are bottomless, and I didn’t want to add to the pile.

But IF you are still making your 2020 contributions, if you are moved by the news of journalists who have died from the coronavirus contracted while covering the pandemic to bring us news, or the staggering number of layoffs and publications permanently shuttered, I can attest to the value of your donation. SEJ has an incredible team of dedicated staff and volunteers who made it possible to ride out this year and keep the organization stable. We got money to those who needed it most, forming a rapid response grant and a Members-in-Need fund. To see more about what we accomplished this year, you can read my final President’s Letter here.

I was fortunate, teaching and writing longer-form pieces from home, able to postpone reporting trips indefinitely. But so many were out there on the frontlines, continuing to cover stories about historic hurricanes and wildfires, climate upheaval, and environmental protection rollbacks under the Trump administration that will manifest in diminished human health and a compromised natural world for a long time to come.

If you hope to see environmental journalism continue into 2021 and beyond, I invite you to join me with a contribution to SEJ. Check out our incredible (and growing) Wall of Heroes, listing some of the best journalists out there on this beat.

One big bonus this year: up to $300 in charitable giving can be deducted “above the line” from your 2020 taxable income, even if you take the standard deduction. That means everyone can receive a tax benefit from their donation to SEJ, not just those filers that itemize.

And if you can’t do anything this year, that’s fine too. No matter what, I just hope this finds you and yours safe and healthy, and staying that way as we tip into the new year.

with love,
~meera

On ‘Writing the Book You Can’t Not Write’

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Between the Lines: Subramanian on ‘Writing the Book You Can’t Not Write’

For the latest installment of SEJournal’s author Q & A, “Between the Lines,” Meera Subramanian talks to book editor Tom Henry about the research and writing process behind her debut, “A River Runs Again: India’s Natural World in Crisis,” a 2016 Orion Book Award finalist that travels from the barren cliffs of Rajasthan to the farmlands of Karnataka.

SEJournal: What inspired you to write “A River Runs Again?”

Meera Subramanian: I have visited India all my life to see my father’s family and couldn’t help but observe how things were done there compared to my home in the United States. I’d be older with each trip, viewing with a new perspective, but India was changing, too, and when the country opened up its economy in the 1990s, that change ramped up to a frantic pace.

But who was getting left behind as the IT boom swept South Asia? Where was this country that is now poised to become the most populous nation on Earth heading in terms of development? What were they doing right and what were they doing wrong in a place where a growing population was colliding with limited natural resources, where everyone wants to satisfy their basic needs — and then some?

But this wasn’t just describing India; it was the state of the entire world. I decided to start with India, a place I could view with the fresh eyes of an outsider but also with a touch of insider knowledge.

Read the entire interview here.

Knight Science Journalism fellowship

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I still can’t quite believe that, come August, I’ll be joining an incredible cohort of journalists for the Knight Science Journalism fellowship at MIT.

Here’s the official announcement, which begins…

The Knight Science Journalism Program at MIT, the premier global fellowship program for journalists covering science, technology, health and the environment, is proud to announce that ten journalists, representing five countries, have been selected to join the program’s 34th class of fellows.

Proud that of the ten journalists, three of us are from the Society of Environmental Journalists, including Robert McClure of Investigate West and Rosalia Omungo of the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation in Nairobi. Mark Wolverton and I mucked about in a salt marsh last summer when we did the MBL Logan Science Journalism program out of Woods Hole, MA. I plan on [Read more…]

thank you, sej/fej!

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Three’s a charm. I’d applied for reporting funds from the Society of Environmental Journalists’ Fund for Environmental Journalism before, to no avail. But take note, you other scrappy journalists out there, you must persevere! I did, and now I am thrilled and thankful to learn that my application this summer, which will help support my new book project, Elemental India: Dispatches from the Global Environmental Front, was funded. The indispensable support will help me begin reporting in North India this fall. Thank you. Shukriya!

Here’s the announcement of all the grant recipients…

Fund for Environmental Journalism Announces Summer 2012 Grantees.

Thanks to generous funding from the Cornelius King Foundation and the Heinz Endowments, plus numerous small gifts from members and friends of the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ), we are pleased to announce that the organization is awarding a total of $12,105 to five journalism projects selected in SEJ’s Fund for Environmental Journalism (FEJ) Summer 2012 grant cycle. In addition to the grant, SEJ will also provide mentoring support to any grantees requesting it.The Society of Environmental Journalists launched the Fund for Environmental Journalism in 2010, to support reporting projects and entrepreneurial journalism ventures related to the environment. For the first time in its history SEJ began awarding small grants to both staff and freelance journalists, to cover costs of travel, lab testing, graphics development, website costs, and other budget items without which journalists might have been unable to produce and distribute specific timely stories about important environmental issues.

Congratulations to the winners in the Summer 2012 round:

Jane Braxton Little and Winifred Bird
Greenville, CA, USA and Nagano, Japan
$3,500 for travel to the Ukraine and Fukushima to produce an article on approaches to managing forest contamination in the aftermath of nuclear disaster

Tara Lohan
San Francisco, CA
$730 for travel expenses to support a feature story and photographic essay showing the impact on rural communities of fresh water diversion to Las Vegas

Barbara Moran
Brookline, MA
$1,325 for travel and media-production expenses for articles examining the impact on environmental pollution and public health of industrial laundries in New England

Erica Peterson
Louisville, KY
$3,500 for air-testing expenses to support reporting for a radio series about industrial pollution in Louisville, Kentucky

Meera Subramanian
West Barnstable, MA
$3,050 for travel expenses to produce articles, and chapters for a book, about sustainable growth and development in India

To learn more about the FEJ awards program, including applicant eligibility and submission guidelines, or to see information and links about past awards, please go to the Fund for Environmental Journalism web page. We are currently fundraising for the next FEJ round of grants. Please consider making your own donation today, to help SEJ build the Fund for Environmental Journalism and support new work! Many in this field are adapting to disruptions in their employment and new methods in media; yet they remain steadfast in their goal of providing our communities every day with vitally important information on environment-related issues. If you would like to help experienced environmental journalists to continue producing rich, rigorously investigated and unbiased content, please make a gift on SEJ’s secure website.

sej outstanding feature story

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Thrilled that the SEJ 11th Annual Awards for Reporting on the Environment selected “India’s Vanishing Vultures” for First Place for Outstanding Feature Story.

The judges said “this story by Meera Subramanian was extremely well researched, compellingly written and showed how the impact of the decline of these uncharismatic birds is dramatically affecting the health and the environment of this South Asian nation.”

I, in turn, select the Society of Environmental Journalists as an outstanding journalists’ association. They’ve been instrumental in helping me tackle this challenging trade, especially as a freelancer.

some hints for freelancers

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At the SEJ conference, I teamed up with fellow freelancer Karen Schaefer and hosted one of the beat dinners during the conference to share information about how to make the freelance life work, at least a little better. Here’s a resource list we ended up with, put together from a variety of sources, including many gleanings from the ever helpful SEJ Freelance listserv, participant suggestions, places people learned about from Maya Smart, and more. It’s by no means exhaustive, and possibly redundant to other resource lists out there, but we wanted to share it in case it helps even one floundering freelance soul out there. Feel free to share widely.

The Business of Freelancing:

Poynter Online: http://www.poynter.org/

Writer’s Market: http://www.writersmarket.com/

Elance: http://www.elance.com/

CNN Small Business: http://money.cnn.com/smallbusiness/

Wall Street Journal Small Business Marketing: http://online.wsj.com/public/page/news–small–business–marketing.html

Inc.com: http://www.inc.com/

Biz Journals: http://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/small_business/

Small Business Planner: http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/index.html

Writer’s Digest: http://www.writersdigest.com/GeneralMenu/

Writers and Editors:  http://www.writers-editors.com

Writers Weekly:  www.writersweekly.com

Writing Coach: http://www.writingcoach.com/

Freelance Success: http://www.freelancesuccess.com/

Association of Independents in Radio: http://airmedia.org/

Daily Freelance Net: http://www.freelancedaily.net/

Editorial Freelancers Association: http://www.the–efa.org/

Editorial Pay Rates: http://www.the–efa.org/res/rates.php

Registering a business name: http://www.business.gov/register/business–name/

Small business FAQ: http://www.business.gov/faqs/

State taxes: http://www.business.gov/manage/taxes/state.html

IRS Small Business, including Employer Identification Number (EIN), taxes and more: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/index.html

Best Business Practices for Photographers: http://www.best–business–practices.com/

Tools:

Blog Talk Radio:  http://www.blogtalkradio.com – social network Internet radio site that supports free talk radio show hosting, podcasts and more.

Transom.org:  http://transom.org – a website showcasing the work of new public radio, with a fantastic section on tools

PRX:  http://www.prx.org/ – Public Radio Exchange, a website where radio stations and independent producers can share their work.  If radio stations air indy work, there’s a small royalty.

The Non-Designer’s Design Book by Robin Williams:  http://www.amazon.com/Non–Designers–Design–Book–Robin–Williams/dp/0321534042/ref=sr_1_1?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285258063&sr=8-1

Sound Reporting, put out by NPR: http://www.amazon.com/Sound–Reporting–Guide–Journalism–Production/dp/0226431789

Rights:

Media Perils: http://publiability.com/ – Liability insurance.

Contract Lingo: http://www.writingcoach.com/blog/bid/43764/Contract–Terms–Every–Freelance–Writer–Should–Know

Creative Commons : http://creativecommons.org/ – An open-source approach to copyright.

Covering your Ass (by SEJ-er Alion Kerr) http://writetodone.com/2010/10/15/are–you–using–protection–free–speech–libel–and–covering–your–ass/

Health Insurance:

Freelancers Union: http://www.freelancersunion.org/insurance/explore/

MediaBistro: http://www.mediabistro.com/insurance/

The Artists Health Insurance Resource Center directory: http://www.ahirc.org/

E Health insurance: ehealthinsurance.com

National Writers Union: www.nwu.org

Alternative Funding Sources:

SEJ list of fellowships and workshops: http://www.sej.org/initiatives/awards–fellowships/non–sej–environmental–journalism–fellowships–and–workshops

Spot.Us: http://spot.us/ – Spot.Us is a nonprofit project of the “Center for Media Change“ and funded by various groups like the Knight Foundation

Fund for Environmental Journalism (SEJ): http://www.sej.org/initiatives/fund+for+environmental+journalism/overview

Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/ –

National Geographic Expeditions: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/field/grants–programs/ec–apply/

Fund for Investigative Journalism: http://fij.org/

Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting: http://pulitzercenter.org/travel–grants

Investigative Reporters and Editors: http://www.ire.org/ (Also have trainings)

Foundation Center: http://foundationcenter.org/findfunders/fundingsources/gtio.html

Consider museums, historical societies, etc.

Nonprofit Journalism:

ProPublica: http://www.propublica.org/ ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.

Rocky Mountain Investigative News Network ((I-News): http://www.inewsnetwork.org/

InvestigateWest:  http://invw.org/ – A non-profit investigative journalism team started by former investigative journalists from the now-closed Seattle Post-Intelligencer.  InvestigateWest uses foundation funding along with donations from private individuals to create multi-media content for the general public and media partners.

InvestigateWest, Lessons from the First Year: http://www.knightdigitalmediacenter.org/leadership_blog/comments/20100824_investigatewest_lessons_from_the_first_year/

The Journalism Shop:  ww.thejournalismshop.com – A cooperative composed primarily of former Los Angeles Times staffers laid off or bought out during the current financial storm.

Oregon News Incubator: https://newsincubator.wordpress.com/ – A nonprofit network that advances entrepreneurial journalism in the evolving media ecosystem, supporting structures, tools and collaborative space for independent and emerging media producers.

**Many more at sej.org**

flathead lake—the pristine & the alien

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCCmD_IQU2Q&fs=1&hl=en_US]

A grateful Society of Environmental Journalists 20-20-20 fellowship recipient, I arrived early in Missoula, Montana to take the Wednesday video workshop. On Thursday, with the official SEJ annual conference underway, I headed out to Flathead Lake with my Nikon D90 (but, sorry, no tripod), and on Saturday afternoon, turned the footage into this, my very first video.

SEJ Conference 2008

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The Society of Environmental Journalists met in Roanoke for their 18th annual conference. This was my third time attending and the gathering of 800+ journalists from around the country (and globe) is always overwhelming in its content (which can make one walk quite sure that we are, indeed, toast), inspiring in its breadth (making you once again rise to face a new day), and a good reminder that I am part of wide community of people who are telling the important stories that link humans to the physical and fragile world we inhabit. Some highlights:

I already wrote about concerns about lead poisoning from ammunition, but Marc Edwards from Virginia Tech has been studying lead in drinking water at public schools. While the EPA has set 10 ppm (parts per million) as the acceptable level (and there was discussion of this too being much too high to mitigate low-level poisoning), Edwards has found levels in the hundreds and even as high as 5,000 ppm. This is a hazardous waste level. His research found that 30% of the schools tested had elevated levels beyond EPA standards, yet there is no requirement for testing because the public water source has been deemed acceptable. “You’d have to eat six Thomas-the-Trains to get the same level as what we saw in some of these schools,” he said.

Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the IPCC, gave a keynote luncheon talk about climate change.  Someone, Dr. Pachauri said, once asked Gandhi if he wanted to see India reach the level of prosperity that Britain had. It is a question that echoes in different forms today more than ever, usually in the context of the West having no right to now tell those in the East that they have to hinder in their development. Gandhi’s response? It took Britain using resources from half the world to reach their level of prosperity. How many planets would India require?

The last day of the conference was a blessing, tearing at the thin fabric of my skin after these two months on the road, on thinking about place and the creatures that fly above and what we’ve done – are doing – to the land below our feet. The conference crowds had thinned and a cold front had dusted the sidewalks with frost when we gathered around our coffee cups in the small intimate room to hear Wendell Berry – Kentucky farmer, activist, and writer – read and talk with fellow Southern authors Ann Pancake and Denise Giardina. They spoke of the greatest environmental disaster in their region, and quite arguably the country: mountaintop coal mining. While I once spent a good part of my time fighting to keep large trees standing upright upon the land, this is a battle for the mountains themselves. See images here to grasp the extent of this devastation. John Prine’s song, Paradise, came filtering into my mind.

And just in case you haven’t heard of Wendell Berry, here’s one of his classic poems, Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front. Read this and then read more.

Here’s a video of him giving the same speech he read to us – “a speech against the state government,” he said in his introduction.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgfMu2NxtZI]

It was a room full of journalists and they asked the unanswerable question of how to get this information out so people will care, so that it will effect them. Write the stories, said Wendell, that you are authorized to tell. And find the one way to tell it. He quoted this, but I don’t know if they are his words or someone else’s. Either way, they bear repeating:

A thousand deaths, a thousand sufferings, makes a plateau. It is a bed of nails you can lie upon. But one death, one moment of suffering, one Lear, one Hamlet, is the point of sorrow.