Chasing Narrative: Turning a Scientist’s Struggle into a Lyrical, Multimedia Tale [1]
Here are some reports of possible interest to environmental journalists from the Congressional Research Service (CRS). Congress does not release them to the public, but the Union of Concerned Scientists' Government Secrecy Project does.
In this "Between the Lines" excerpt from the latest issue of SEJournal, book editor Tom Henry interviews Earth Policy Institute's Lester Brown, recipient of 25 honorary degrees and author of 54 books (although, amazingly, he never learned to type).
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has for years suppressed full disclosure of the National Inventory of Dams, once a key tool for journalists reporting on dam safety — or the government's failure to ensure it. Now that tool is back in the toolbox ... mostly.
New expert background reports of interest to environmental journalists and the public have been published by the Federation of American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy.
You'd think there shouldn't be such a thing as a secret oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Earlier this year, the Associated Press uncovered an offshore well in the Gulf that had been leaking for a decade. Now — thanks to a lawsuit from environmentalists — the details will be revealed.
Abrahm Lustgarten (left) wrote a nine-part series delving into farm subsidies and water policy. But his efforts to get the actual names of farm subsidy recipients or individual water users were largely thwarted. Read how info flows less quickly to the public than money and water flow to farmers in SPJ's FOI blog. Photo credit: Lars Klove.
For this latest installment of “Between the Lines,” a question-and-answer feature with authors, SEJournal book editor Tom Henry interviewed longtime SEJ member Cynthia Barnett about her third book, “RAIN: A Natural and Cultural History,” which came out in April. It’s a unique, ambitious book that goes beyond climate science and water in general to show how rain itself has been perceived around the world by numerous cultures throughout history. Barnett sees rain as “a unifying force in a fractured world.” She also is the author of two other highly acclaimed books,“Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S.” and “Blue Revolution: Unmaking America’s Water Crisis.
Here are some recently leaked CRS reports of relevance to environmental journalists, as well as the latest on the debate following the NYT editorial calling for the reports to be made public.
At the Spills of National Significance (SONS) Draft Communications Strategy forum on June 8, and in a June 30 letter, SEJ urged SONS communicators to release data fully and promptly, to acknowledge uncertainties and gaps, and to give journalists good access to officials, experts and places.
Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/publications/sejournal-su-fa2015/chasing-narrative-turning-scientists-struggle-lyrical-multimedia-tale
[2] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication-types/inside-story
[3] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/biodiversity-1
[4] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/science
[5] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water
[6] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/wildlife
[7] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81
[8] https://www.sej.org/publications/watchdog-tipsheet/read-reports-congress-doesnt-want-you-read
[9] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication/watchdog-tipsheet
[10] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/agriculture
[11] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/chemicals/toxics
[12] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/business
[13] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/energy
[14] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/government
[15] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/laws
[16] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/military
[17] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/transportation
[18] https://www.sej.org/publications/sejournal-su-fa2015/iconic-author-former-farmer-plants-seeds-more-attractive-world
[19] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication-types/bookshelf
[20] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/activism
[21] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/climate-change
[22] https://www.sej.org/publications/watchdog-tipsheet/nicar-publish-long-suppressed-national-inventory-dams
[23] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster
[24] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/people-population
[25] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national
[26] https://www.sej.org/publications/watchdog-tipsheet/secret-reports-congress-%E2%80%94-revealed-environmental-reporters
[27] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land
[28] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/nuclear-power/radiation
[29] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/california
[30] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international/africa
[31] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international/antarctica-arctic
[32] https://www.sej.org/publications/watchdog-tipsheet/settlement-sets-disclosure-decade-old-gulf-oil-leak
[33] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-politics
[34] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/fisheries
[35] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/pollution
[36] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/southeast
[37] https://www.sej.org/publications/watchdog-tipsheet/lustgarten-says-data-who-gets-ag-subsidies-rare-hens-teeth
[38] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/policy
[39] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/mountain-west
[40] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/southwest
[41] https://www.sej.org/publications/sejournal-sp2015/making-rain-caring-middle
[42] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/journalism/media
[43] https://www.sej.org/publications/watchdog-tipsheet/secret-congressional-background-reports-leak-again-debate-continues
[44] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/health
[45] https://www.sej.org/publications/watchdog-tipsheet/sej-urges-agency-openness-during-national-spill-crises
[46] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A/125
[47] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A/125?page=30
[48] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A/125?page=27
[49] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A/125?page=28
[50] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A/125?page=29
[51] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A/125?page=32
[52] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A/125?page=33
[53] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A/125?page=34
[54] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A/125?page=35
[55] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A/125?page=57
[56] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/Watchdog+TipSheet