Publication Items

News Media Coalition Appeals Gag Orders in Blankenship Case [1]

After a judge refused to reverse most of the secrecy ruling around the 2010 Upper Big Branch mine disaster caused by Massey Energy's safety violations, including indictment of the company's former CEO, media outlets appealed. Now a coalition of many more media groups, led by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, have filed a friend-of-the-court brief opposing the secrecy ruling as unconstitutional.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [3]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Natural Resources [5]
Region:
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about News Media Coalition Appeals Gag Orders in Blankenship Case [1]
CRS Reports No Longer Secret, Thanks to FAS Secrecy Project [8]

Congress keeps secret the top-notch nonpartisan explainers from the Congressional Research Service. Or tries to. Thanks to the Federation of American Scientists' Government Secrecy Project, you can read the reports your tax dollars paid for below.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [9]
Environmental Politics [10]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Natural Resources [5]
Water & Oceans [11]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about CRS Reports No Longer Secret, Thanks to FAS Secrecy Project [8]
Local Authority Slaps Permits, Fees on Photography in Parks [12]

Professional photojournalists may again be facing unconstitutional requirements for permits to work in public parks — this time at the county level in a well-heeled District of Columbia suburb. But Virginia's Fairfax County Park Authority is encountering pushback as they conduct an annual review of their fee policies at various park units.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [13]
Natural Resources [5]
Policy [14]
Region:
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Local Authority Slaps Permits, Fees on Photography in Parks [12]
More Secret Reports from Congressional Research Service [15]

Nobody has ever explained why Congress refuses to release the tax-funded explainers produced by the Congressional Research Service. They are a gold standard for journalists needing quick background. Here are some recent CRS reports relevant to environmental journalists, helpfully released by the Federation of American Scientists.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [16]
Disasters [3]
Energy & Fuel [9]
Government [17]
Health [18]
Natural Resources [5]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [19]
Water & Oceans [11]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about More Secret Reports from Congressional Research Service [15]
Waiting for Ansel Adams: Will 114th Congress Legalize Park Photography? [20]

You may have read in recent WatchDogs about controversial federal laws and rules that could restrict photojournalism in federal parks, forests, and rangelands. Now comes the "Ansel Adams bill" that would make it legal to do an activity that is Constitutionally protected. Only someone has to introduce the bill. Photo: Ansel Adams, by J. Malcolm Greany. [21]

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [13]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Natural Resources [5]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Waiting for Ansel Adams: Will 114th Congress Legalize Park Photography? [20]
"Aluminum Dreams: The Making of Light Modernity" [22]

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [23]
Topics on the Beat:
Consumer [24]
Environmental Health [25]
Natural Resources [5]
People & Population [26]
Technology [27]
Water & Oceans [11]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about "Aluminum Dreams: The Making of Light Modernity" [22]
Chief Tidwell Directs Forest Service: No Permits, Fees for Journos [28]

"News coverage on [National Forest System] lands is protected by the Constitution," wrote U.S. Forest Service Chief Thomas L. Tidwell in a November 4, 2014, memo to agency leaders, "and it is our responsibility to safeguard this right on the lands we manage for all Americans. Journalists provide a critical public service, and this agency will ensure their access in the pursuit of that public service."
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Forests [29]
Journalism & Media [13]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Natural Resources [5]
Policy [14]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Chief Tidwell Directs Forest Service: No Permits, Fees for Journos [28]
Why Doesn't Congress Want You To Read These Reports? [30]

For decades, Congress has refused to release taxpayer-funded reports by the Congressional Research Service. Fortunately, the Federation of American Scientists' Government Secrecy Project gets them and releases them. Here are some new explainers that may be of use to environmental journalists.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [31]
Air [32]
Climate Change [16]
Energy & Fuel [9]
Natural Resources [5]
Pollution [33]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Why Doesn't Congress Want You To Read These Reports? [30]
Getting Past Park Service PIO Harder Than 13-Mile Hike [34]

It's true — some public information officers are really paranoid. High Country News reporter Tristan Baurick, trying to report on preservation of a historic chalet in Olympic National Park, found "a bizarre blockade on press freedom, the likes of which I’d never experienced outside a military base or murder scene."

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics [10]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Natural Resources [5]
Transportation [35]
Region:
Northwest (OR WA) [36]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Getting Past Park Service PIO Harder Than 13-Mile Hike [34]
"The Last Ocean: Antarctica's Ross Sea Project: Saving the Most Pristine Ecosystem on Earth" [37]

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [23]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [13]
Natural Resources [5]
Region:
Antarctica & Arctic [38]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about "The Last Ocean: Antarctica's Ross Sea Project: Saving the Most Pristine Ecosystem on Earth" [37]

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