Freedom of Information Sessions at SEJ's 2013 Annual Conference in Chattanooga

September 25, 2013–On Saturday, October 5: At 9:00 a.m. SEJ FOI Task Force Chair Tim Wheeler of the Baltimore Sun will moderate a session on overcoming obstacles put up by agency press offices to reporters who want to interview government officials. At 10:45 a.m. WatchDog Editor Joe Davis will present a hands-on session with tips for sleuthing dam and levee stories using federal databases like the National Inventory of Dams and the National Levee Database.

Halliburton Admits Destroying Gulf Spill Evidence

July 31, 2013–Journalists who worried about a cover-up during the April 2010 blowout of BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico got some vindication this month when Halliburton admitted to destroying evidence. The company agreed to pay $200,000 in fines and donate $55 million to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Groups Oppose North Carolina "Ag-Gag" Bill

June 5, 2013–NC's Senate is considering an industry-sponsored bill that would extend restrictions on undercover investigations beyond livestock operations to include other categories of industry. The state's Chamber of Commerce supports it, saying industries beyond agriculture want protection from the reporting of workplace abuses.

State 'Ag-Gag' Laws Spreading, Protect Misdeeds from Scrutiny

May 22, 2013–While a Tennessee governor vetoed "ag-gag" legislation in that state, bills criminalizing the collection of information about abuses in livestock operations are still being pushed in other states — and the mechanism may be extended to stifle reporting on other environmental abuses.

Continental Divide

April 15, 2013–

Exxon "Unified Command" Locks Down Ark. Spill Site; Threatens Reporter

April 10, 2013–The March 29, 2013, spill from ExxonMobil's Pegasus Pipeline near Mayflower, Arkansas is a big deal for several reasons. But the most important thing about the Mayflower spill may be that ExxonMobil and the federal agencies involved seem to be trying to keep news media from getting close enough to see what is going on. Read SEJ's letter protesting the media treatment, and EPA's response.

The Scent of Scandal

September 15, 2012–

Traveling Florida’s Lost Wildlife Highways

September 15, 2012–In this excerpt from the latest issue of SEJournal (Summer/Fall), freelance writer and photographer Roger Archibald tells the tale of the 2012 Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition, which sought to reclaim a tenuous natural migratory route that the state’s surviving endemic wildlife might once again follow.

Going to Tampa or Charlotte? Some Resources for Reporters

August 22, 2012–You wouldn't think you would get arrested for trying to cover the 2012 Democratic convention in Charlotte, NC, September 4 or the Republican convention in Tampa, FL, August 27. But such things have happened before, and reporters have available some resources to support their rights.

Group Sues Interior for Failure to Disclose Correspondence with Wind Industry

June 27, 2012–The American Bird Conservancy has gone to court after the Interior Department stonewalled its Freedom-of-Information-Act requests for correspondence between feds and the wind industry on how potential wind projects in 10 states might affect birds and bats.