This is the 6th in a series of articles by Knight Center students who attended the 2026 annual convention of the Society of Environmental Journalists.

By Joshua Kim

Hundreds of environmental journalists from universities and organizations attended the 2026 conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists held in Chicago.

Many were from American-based organizations. However, there was a significant number of international journalists as well.

Mats Hellmark, a journalist from Sverige Natur in Sweden, came to the conference after hearing of its great reputation over the years.

Hellmark said that learning about different perspectives in journalism, between the Swedish way and the American way, was important, and that he felt he and the American contacts he met learned a lot from each other.

He also added that SEJ seems to be doing more to attract more international journalists and organizations to attend.

“I think this may be the biggest forum for these kinds of issues today, even though it’s a U.S. society,” Hellmark said. “In these times, we certainly need to support each other doing work in this field, as it’s a tough situation in many respects.”

Especially with environmental topics, multiple international perspectives are crucial, Hellmark said.

“It may not be getting as much attention and as good coverage as it should,” Hellmark said. “For us as a magazine, we write not only about the issues in Sweden, but very much with a global perspective.”

Hellmark compared SEJ to a “smörgåsbord,” a traditional Swedish-style buffet, saying there were many sessions, tours and topics for him to learn from and that would be useful for him at his job in Sweden.

“I will also be writing about one of the excursions that I took part in at Natusa Grasslands” – a Nature Conservancy site in Central Illinois – “with the restoration of the prairie and with the aid of the bison herd.”

The conference gave him “insight into how U.S. journalists are working against obstacles, both financially and in other ways in their reporting,” Hellmark said.

Joshua Kim