Publication Items

Dark Hand of OMB Lifted from FOIA Recommendations — Or So They Say [1]

OMB sat on the Office of Government Information Services recommendations for over a year, until a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in March 2012 demanded OMB release the recommendations, which finally happened April 24th. However, no recommendations for legislative change were included. Nobody knows what, if any, legislative recommendations OGIS may have originally proposed.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Policy [3]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Government [5]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Dark Hand of OMB Lifted from FOIA Recommendations — Or So They Say [1]
Sad But True: Many Agency Press Offices Stifle Reporter Contact with Employees [7]

Now there is research proving what reporters have known all along, thanks to a survey from the Society of Professional Journalists. SPJ commissioned work by survey research professionals who canvassed newsgatherers during January-February 2012. Here are some of the findings and a link to the full report.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [8]
Government [5]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Sad But True: Many Agency Press Offices Stifle Reporter Contact with Employees [7]
Cool Data Tools: EPA Releases NEPAssist Mapper [9]

For reporters wanting to pry open the worm-cans of local environmental stories, EPA's new GIS tool lets you map Environmental Impact Statements project information against a rich backdrop: layer after layer of geographic, demographic, environmental, and economic context. And, it can be used in conjunction with EJView, EPA's environmental justice online mapping tool.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Technology [10]
Policy [3]
People & Population [11]
Government [5]
Economy & Business [12]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Cool Data Tools: EPA Releases NEPAssist Mapper [9]
Denver Post Exposes FDA Secrecy on Food Threats to Public Health [13]

Reporter Michael Booth's story resurrected the old issue of whether the public has a right to know the identity and source of foods in commerce that government agencies actually know may be causing fatal illness. The FDA refused to comment on the story.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Health [14]
Government [5]
Food [15]
Economy & Business [12]
Consumer [16]
Agriculture [17]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Denver Post Exposes FDA Secrecy on Food Threats to Public Health [13]
Integrity Problems at Interior's Science Integrity Program? [18]

One sign of problems came when Interior's Inspector General office launched what seemed to be a ham-handed investigation, later dropped, into activities of the scientist who sounded the alarm on polar bears losing habitat to global warming. Now Interior has fired one of its scientific integrity officers — who is defending himself by saying he was just doing his job.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Wildlife [19]
Water & Oceans [20]
Science [21]
Government [5]
Fish & Fisheries [22]
Environmental Politics [23]
Climate Change [24]
Biodiversity [25]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Integrity Problems at Interior's Science Integrity Program? [18]
Mexico Moves Toward Federalizing Crimes Against Journalists [26]

The Mexican Senate on March 13, 2012, approved a constitutional amendment making attacks on journalists a federal crime — which would help journalists bypass possibly corrupt local police officials. The measure must now be approved by a majority of Mexico's state legislatures.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [4]
Journalism & Media [8]
Government [5]
Region:
Mexico [27]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Mexico Moves Toward Federalizing Crimes Against Journalists [26]
EPA Toxic-Disclosure Proposal Under Scrutiny at Obama White House [28]

On December 27, 2012, EPA submitted to the Office of Management and Budget its proposal to alter the interpretation of the Toxic Substances Control Act to require disclosure of the identities of the chemicals subject to health-effects studies before they are used in manufactured products. On January 20, 2012, a secret meeting took place between OMB officials and chemical industry lobbyists. We don't know what they talked about, but we do know that the meeting took place and who attended it.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [5]
Chemicals [29]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about EPA Toxic-Disclosure Proposal Under Scrutiny at Obama White House [28]
Secret CRS Reports of Interest to Environmental Journalists [30]

Congress still refuses to publish unclassified reports on subjects of general public interest done by the Congressional Research Service, even though they are funded by taxpayer dollars. Here are several, courtesy of the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [5]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Secret CRS Reports of Interest to Environmental Journalists [30]
Iowa Outlaws Some Undercover Investigations As Other States Mull Bills [31]

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (pictured) signed the so-called "Ag Gag" bill into law March 2, 2012, making it a crime to obtain access to an agricultural facility "under false pretenses" — without defining "false pretenses." Does this apply to hidden cameras? Animal rights activists have often resorted to hidden cameras — and shared with news media photos and videos of shocking cruelty to animals.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [8]
Government [5]
Region:
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [32]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Iowa Outlaws Some Undercover Investigations As Other States Mull Bills [31]
SEJ Urges EPA Press Office To Open up Agency Info to News Media [33]

On January 27, 2012, SEJ wrote to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, after unreturned phone calls and ignored emails, in an attempt to get the agency to resume quarterly conference calls to discuss access issues and the run-around SEJ members endure when trying to do their jobs.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [8]
Government [5]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about SEJ Urges EPA Press Office To Open up Agency Info to News Media [33]

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