"Climate experts have watched with an uneasy sense of deja vu as national and local public health leaders have been harassed, insulted and threatened."
"The Trump administration has ordered hospitals to bypass the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and send all Covid-19 patient information to a central database in Washington beginning on Wednesday. The move has alarmed health experts who fear the data will be politicized or withheld from the public."
Wildfire photographer Helen Richardson, in a companion EJ InSight case study, shares a personal account of her efforts to capture compelling images from Colorado’s deadly Waldo Canyon Fire. Plus, more of her photos and a report on how to prepare properly to shoot disasters while protecting yourself, including from COVID-19.
Safety has long been an element of smart disaster photojournalism. But there’s a new dimension to the risk now — coronavirus. Wildfire photographer Helen Richardson writes in the latest EJ InSight column about how to protect yourself, how to be prepared and how to get the story. Plus, a photo slidehow and a case study on confronting the journalistic challenges in one major fire.
"Audio of the forceful push led by U.S. Park Police to sweep protesters out of Lafayette Square on June 1, moments before President Trump’s visit to St. John’s Episcopal Church, was not recorded by the Park Police radio communications system, the agency said Tuesday."
"Public lands infrastructure projects being fast-tracked as a Covid-19 pandemic response under a June 4 executive order will be kept from public view, the White House said Tuesday. Environmental attorneys and other legal practitioners say the White House’s shroud over the expedited projects suggests that the administration’s efforts to use the economic fallout from Covid-19 to circumvent environmental regulations may not be legal."
"An environmental group wants Tampa Bay area voters to remember that President Donald Trump called climate change a “hoax” when they vote this November, and the organization has a new ad to remind people." "The 30-second spot is part of a $1.7 million effort to highlight Trump's environmental record".
"The nation’s 10 largest utilities spent about $1 billion on charitable giving from 2013 to 2017, a move critics say is meant to shape policy decisions."
"A climate scientist says Facebook is restricting her ability to share research and fact-check posts containing climate misinformation."
When the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a press release with favorable industry response to changes in a rule protecting migratory birds — before actually proposing the new rule — a group of former agency officials cried foul. Plus, why encrypted police scanners are a problem and an ag-gag ruling, all in the latest WatchDog opinion column.
