Publication Items

EPA Issues New Information on Old and New Fluorescent Light Bulbs [1]

Some light bulbs require special handling to reduce toxic exposures. EPA's latest guidance for old fluorescent bulbs that contain PCBs and current generation CFLs that contain mercury both provide important fodder for consumer-awareness stories.
SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Health [3]
Government [4]
Consumer [5]
Chemicals [6]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about EPA Issues New Information on Old and New Fluorescent Light Bulbs [1]
Sunshine Week Coming March 13-19, 2011 [8]

Many publications and groups schedule special stories, reports, panels, or events during this week to promote freedom of information and to exercise their First Amendment rights. Find suggestions at the American Society of News Editors' official Sunshine Week website.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [9]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [10]
Government [4]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Sunshine Week Coming March 13-19, 2011 [8]
Feds Publish Secret Oil Spill Calculator [11]

Now that you have long since published your story about the disappearance of BP's oil from the Gulf, you may want to check the math that story was based on using newly released technical information.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [9]
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [12]
Government [4]
Energy & Fuel [13]
Disasters [14]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Feds Publish Secret Oil Spill Calculator [11]
CIA Forms Semi-Secret Unit on Climate and Security [15]

Is it a security risk for the American public to find out the risks presented by climate change? A recent story on the Central Intelligence Agency's Center on Climate Change and National Security by the Medill National Security Reporting Project was noteworthy in that all of its sources were unnamed.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [9]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [4]
Climate Change [16]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about CIA Forms Semi-Secret Unit on Climate and Security [15]
Chambers Reinstated; Talking to Reporters No Longer a Federal Firing Offense? [17]

Teresa Chambers, who was fired by the Bush administration in 2004 for talking to the news media, has been reinstated by the Merit Systems Protection Board as chief of police for the National Park Service.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [9]
Topics on the Beat:
Natural Resources [18]
Government [4]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Chambers Reinstated; Talking to Reporters No Longer a Federal Firing Offense? [17]
Help Identify the Senator Whose "Secret Hold" Killed Whistleblower Bill [19]

Join open-government advocates (including journalists) in blowing the whistle on the anonymous senator who stopped the people's business in the final hours of the last Congress. Call senators, ask if they killed the bill, record your findings or track progress.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [9]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [4]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Help Identify the Senator Whose "Secret Hold" Killed Whistleblower Bill [19]
Sunlight Puts Up Cool New Lobbyist Registration Tracker [20]

Kudos to the Sunlight Foundation for taking lobbyist data to the next level. It's searchable by issue, by client, or by registrant. It is also highly current — being updated weekly.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [9]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [4]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Sunlight Puts Up Cool New Lobbyist Registration Tracker [20]
Obama Science Policy Legitimizes "Minders," PIO Interview Permissions [21]

Anonymous White House lawyers have blacked out all information about how the administration's science openness policy was arrived at, and are fighting in court against efforts to shed light on it.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [9]
Topics on the Beat:
Science [22]
Policy [23]
Government [4]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Obama Science Policy Legitimizes "Minders," PIO Interview Permissions [21]
Senate Passes Whistleblower Protection Bill; House Pending [24]

The bill (S 372) would beef up the weakened protections for federal whistleblowers against retaliation for revealing fraud, waste, and abuse.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [9]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [4]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about Senate Passes Whistleblower Protection Bill; House Pending [24]
High Court Mulls Public's Right To Know of Threats to Its Safety [25]

In the case of Milner v. Navy, a Puget Sound resident and activist sought information that would identify the locations and potential blast ranges of explosive ordnance stored at Washington’s Naval Magazine Indian Island.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [9]
Topics on the Beat:
People & Population [26]
Military [27]
Government [4]
Disasters [14]
Activism [28]
Visibility:
Public [7]
- Read more about High Court Mulls Public's Right To Know of Threats to Its Safety [25]

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