FULL SESSION DESCRIPTIONS

ALL DAY ENVIRONMENTAL WORKSHOP

Note: This will be an all day event with lunch included.

9:00 am–10:00 am — Climate Reporting 101
This crash course will cover the fundamentals you need to know to report on climate change and incorporate this boundary-crossing topic into all kinds of stories and beats. A panel of veteran environmental journalists will offer practical tips, real-world examples and resources to help you cover climate science, impacts and solutions with skill and confidence.
Speakers: Tony Barboza, Editorial Writer LA Times | Alejandra Borunda, Climate and Health Reporter, NPR | Sammy Roth, Climate Columnist, LA Times

10:15 am–12:15 pm — Environmental Justice Reporting, Developing a Public Record And Data Frame of Mind
This session will explore how data and public records can be used to deliver enterprise and investigative stories on the environmental justice beat, allowing you to build from reactive breaking news reporting of environmental disasters.
Speakers: Mario Ariza, Floodlight News | Peter Aldhous, UC Santa Cruz

12:30 pm–1:30 pm — Building Your Brand On The Environmental Beat: How To Pitch Like A Pro
In this lunch-hour panel discussion, seasoned professionals will share tips, tricks and techniques for crafting a pitch strategically, increasing the chances that your story idea gets picked up–and jumpstarts a partnership with a publication. They’ll include the secret ingredients of an irresistible subject line, tailoring a pitch to make a local story resonate with issues of national importance, and common mistakes to avoid.
Moderator: Louis Sahagun, Retired LA Times environmental reporter
Speakers: Angela Marie Hutchinson, former director of Engagement Health Sciences | Dorany Pineda, AP environmental reporter

1:45 pm–3:45 pm — Mapping and Data Visualization
Come learn about great sources of climate and weather data, free tools you can use to show that data to your audience. We’ll go over our favorites and share the process for making a few stories you can do in your own newsroom, such as mapping demographic data with environmental issues and seeing floods from space. At the end, we’ll talk about *your* projects — so bring your data, mapping and graphics questions and ideas.
Speakers: Marco Hernandez, Graphics Editor, The New York Times | John Keefe, Weather Data Editor, The New York Times

4:00 pm–5:00 pm — Working together: How reporting collaborations can benefit reporters, newsrooms and communities alike
Collaboration between news organizations can offer creative solutions to environmental reporting challenges and community engagement. This session will highlight two groundbreaking projects: one a bilingual, multi-newsroom investigation of how petrochemical pollution disproportionately impacts Latino communities near Houston, revealing failures in the state’s air monitoring system. Another will focus on the power of local/national collaboration, and how networks of experts, journalists, and citizens can come together to improve and amplify reporting. Attendees will gain an appreciation for how teaming up across newsrooms can inspire better journalism, strengthen reporters’ skills and boost community engagement. They’ll leave with a virtual toolkit guiding them through successful collaborations that are responsive to community concerns.
Speakers: Autumn Spanne, Environmental Health Sciences, Manager of Newsletters & Bilingual Content | Matt Thompson, Editor of NYT’s Headway | Valeria Fernandez, Managing Editor, palabra.

HALF-DAY SESSIONS

9:00 am-12:00 pm — Introducción al periodismo de datos
Tres horas de taller sobre los fundamentos del análisis de datos.
Trainer: Laura Moscoso, Training director, Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE)

1:30 pm-4:30 pm — Introduction to data journalism
A three-hour deep dive into the basics of data analysis.
Trainer: Laura Moscoso, Training director, Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE)

1:30 pm-4:30 pm — Storytelling with Google News Tools and Beyond
This hands-on session will explore a variety of digital tools to help elevate your storytelling. We will look at advanced search, Google Trends, verification, data visualizations, mapping and more. Bring your laptop and follow along.
Trainer: Amara Aguilar, Professor, University of Southern California/RTDNA Google Tools Trainer

1:30 pm-4:30 pm — Be the Crowbar: Strategies for Prying Data from Reluctant Officials’ Grubbies
This hands-on training will provide practical tips for getting data out of reluctant government agencies so you can cover stories critical to your community, set your reporting apart from others, and propel your career to the next level. The session will offer dozens of datasets you can download for free, and the stories you can produce from them, and then cover strategies for finding and acquiring the data they don’t want you to have. The trainers also will provide tips for overcoming data denials, and suggestions for how to continue building your data-sleuthing skills long after the conference ends.
Trainer: David Cuillier, Director, University of Florida Brechner FOI Project

Environmental and Data Journalism Training Day (Tuesday Sessions)

Taking place at the #NAHJ40th Conference & Expo