Analysis: Obama Openness Has Yet To Fulfill Promise

May 20, 2009–Watchdog groups and the Associated Press report on federal agency foot-dragging in making a reality of Obama administration declarations that it would foster government transparency.

Obama Has Yet To End PIO "Minders," Permissions

May 7, 2009–A new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists documents the Obama administration's declarations that it intends to be more open. But the same report also documents the many actions not taken at the agency level.

SEJ, Groups Ask Environment Canada for Openness

May 7, 2009–Environment Canada ignored a similar letter from SEJ sent a year ago, requesting restoration of public access to science that taxpayers have paid for.

EPA Reverses Bush-Era Toxics Release Inventory Blackout

April 22, 2009–A new rule signed by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson restores cuts in how much data communities can get about nearby industrial releases of toxic substances.

NIH Open-Access Policy Celebrates 1st Birthday — Will It Make 2nd?

April 8, 2009–A year-old National Institutes of Health policy requiring results of taxpayer-funded research articles to be posted online could be reversed by a bill introduced by Rep. John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

Attorney General Sets Openness as Standard for Fed Info

March 25, 2009–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.

Blue Sky for TRI?

March 25, 2009–EPA's public release of the latest Toxics Release Inventory data -- and rollback of Bush-era cutbacks on the amount of information chemical companies must report -- may have marked the beginning of a new era for the embattled program.

Feds Revising Bush Offshore Energy Development Plan

March 18, 2009–After years of effort, and despite a last-minute gambit by the outgoing President Bush, US policy for offshore energy development is going back to the drawing board. DOI is extending by six months the public comment period on the country's 5-year plan.

Health Care Journos Call for End to Saddam-Style "Minders"

March 11, 2009–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.

SEJ Backs Free Publication of Tax-Funded Research

March 11, 2009–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.