WatchDog TipSheet

A new bill would require Congress to explicitly declare when it was creating a new exemption to the Freedom of Information Act in any legislation.

Carrying out a January 21 order by President Barack Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder has reversed the so-called "Ashcroft Memo," which had encouraged agencies during the George Bush presidency to err on the side of secrecy.

The Association of Health Care Journalists wrote the Obama administration asking it to end the practice of making reporters go through public affairs offices to arrange interviews with federal experts and, in some cases, having public affairs people monitor those interviews.

Hundreds of civic groups and individuals called on EPA March 1, 2009, to restore the Toxics Release Inventory to its former usefulness for informing people of what toxic chemicals companies are releasing into their air, water, and land.

There is a lot of useful government information that is freely available to journalists and the public online. Here are some examples from EPA that can be the building blocks of great stories.

A Bush-appointed holdover inspector general has teamed up with an ultraconservative Senator in a "plumber" operation aimed at punishing agency employees who revealed attempts to gut the Endangered Species Act via "midnight regulations."

SEJ and science journalism groups expressed opposition to a bill that would reverse current policy of free publication of scientific results coming from federal agencies.

SEJ member Janet Pelley writes about her experience with EC scientists, policy and a press 'minder' at the recent Central Canadian Symposium on Water Quality Research.

A new online project by two longstanding open-government groups allows people and groups to vote for the government information they would most like disclosed.

In January 2009, President Obama reversed Bush administration policy and ordered most federal agencies to err on the side of disclosure when responding to FOIA requests. Why, then, are a number of agencies still operating under the old policies?