Kim Diana Connolly, University of South Carolina School of Law
Sonya Forte Duhé, University of South Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communications

Environmental law and policy are inextricably linked with media coverage. In a first-of-its-kind book, a law professor and a journalism professor team up to discuss news media and environmental law and policy.

The news media, especially television and the Internet, have the ability to show and tell the world instantaneously what is happening. Journalism professionals help set the public’s agenda and therefore impact public policy every day. Based on scholarly research about how the news media cover these topics, this book will help readers develop the know-how to effectively work with the media.

Environmental issues have and do sometimes take center stage on network news, on front pages of newspapers and on the Internet, but for the most part it is an under-reported area. Many environmental lawyers and other advocates don’t know how to work with the media to maximize coverage of law-related matters, or to manage unexpected coverage triggered by an environmental legal matter. Conceptualized as a book for lawyers and others who deal with environmental law and policy issues and the communities where they exist, this book will help all sides better understand each other.

This is the beginning of a larger scholarly effort between these collaborators which will continue, in part, through this website. Please feel free to email either author (Connolly or Duhé) if you have questions or suggestions for this site or related work.

Tentative chapter titles for Environmental Law and Policy in the News: an Advocate's Guide to Understanding the Mass Media are:

• Introduction and Overview
• Chapter 1: Mass Media 101
• Chapter 2: The People Behind the News Media
• Chapter 3: Media and Mass Communications Law 101
• Chapter 4: Evolution of Environmental Law and History of Environmental Reporting and How they Intersect
• Chapter 5: The Role of Environmental Science in the News Process
• Chapter 6: FOIA and Other Government Information Avenues in the Environmental and Media Context
• Chapter 7: Responding to the Media
• Chapter 8: Proactive Media Coverage
• Chapter 9: The Ethics of Working with the Media
• Chapter 10: The Changing Landscape of the Mass Media
• Chapter 11: Conclusion and Reflections
• Case Studies in Environmental Law Reporting
  • Rapanos vs. United States: Wading into the Wetlands Debate
  • Kyoto Protocol: United States Refuses to Ratify
  • Endangered Species Recovery Act of 1997 (S.1180): Reform to the Endangered Species Act
  • Drinking Water Regulations on Arsenic
  • Massachusetts vs. EPA
  • TVA Coal Waste Spill
  • Meadowlands Mills