Publication Items

Coast Guard Spill Database Rendered Almost Useless for Reporters [1]

There used to be a searchable, online database of oil and chemical spill reports that reporters could turn to in an emergency to get insight into important breaking news. But ham-handed security efforts have sabotaged the public's right to know. Right now, emergency responders are working on a spill of a cancer-causing fuel additive known as MTBE. But news reporters probably couldn't get much if any helpful information from the database today (we checked).

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [3]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Government [5]
Military [6]
Region:
National (U.S.) [7]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [8]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Coast Guard Spill Database Rendered Almost Useless for Reporters [1]
"Eternal Harvest: The Legacy of American Bombs in Laos" [10]

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [11]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [3]
Environmental Health [12]
Health [13]
Military [6]
People & Population [14]
Planning & Growth [15]
Pollution [16]
Region:
Asia [17]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about "Eternal Harvest: The Legacy of American Bombs in Laos" [10]
Read the Congressional Reports You're Not Supposed To Read [18]

Journalists hurrying to get up to speed on environmental or energy issues can get objective background from reports by the Congressional Research Service (an arm of the Library of Congress), which does not release them to the taxpaying public that funded them. We thank the Federation of American Scientists' Government Secrecy Project for publishing them.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [19]
Disasters [3]
Energy & Fuel [4]
Health [13]
Laws & Regulations [20]
Military [6]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [21]
Science [22]
Transportation [23]
Wildlife [24]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Read the Congressional Reports You're Not Supposed To Read [18]
Between the Lines: Rain of Steel — Covering the Environment, Health Fallout of Unexploded Ordnance [25]

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [11]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [3]
Environmental Health [12]
Health [13]
Military [6]
People & Population [14]
Region:
Asia [17]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Between the Lines: Rain of Steel — Covering the Environment, Health Fallout of Unexploded Ordnance [25]
Peace Group Calls for NEPA Disclosure on Construction at Bangor Base [26]

Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action wants higher courts to hear its argument that the Navy is required by the National Environmental Policy Act to disclose more information about the impacts of a nuclear submarine facility upgrade at the Kitsap-Bangor Naval Base in Washington state, especially the risk of explosion.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [20]
Military [6]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [21]
Region:
Northwest (OR WA) [27]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Peace Group Calls for NEPA Disclosure on Construction at Bangor Base [26]
SEJ Objects to Illegal Military Police Treatment of Toledo Blade Journalists [28]

In a strongly worded April 9, 2014, letter by SEJ Executive Director Beth Parke and SEJ WatchDog Project Director Joseph A. Davis, SEJ urged Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to apologize to the Toledo Blade and direct military employees not to let such illegal actions happen again: Blade journalists Jetta Fraser and Tyrel Linkhorn were detained March 28, 2014 by military police in a public area outside the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima, Ohio. Fraser was held in handcuffs, and military police threatened sexual violence against her.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [29]
Military [6]
Region:
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [8]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about SEJ Objects to Illegal Military Police Treatment of Toledo Blade Journalists [28]
UPDATE: SEJ "Condemns" Military Treatment of Blade Reporters [30]

The Society of Environmental Journalists has written Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, condemning "in the strongest terms" the treatment of two Toledo Blade journalists March 28 by military police outside a Lima, Ohio, tank plant. The journalists were on public property when they were detained by military police. Photographer Jetta Fraser's camera was confiscated, even though she was taking pictures of what was in plain public view.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [29]
Military [6]
Region:
National (U.S.) [7]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about UPDATE: SEJ "Condemns" Military Treatment of Blade Reporters [30]
"Here I Am: The Story of Tim Hetherington, War Photographer" [31]

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [11]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [29]
Military [6]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about "Here I Am: The Story of Tim Hetherington, War Photographer" [31]
More Secret CRS Backgrounders Written at Public Expense [32]

The Congressional Research Service regularly produces objective and informative background material on matters of interest to environmental journalists. Because Congress refuses to release these reports to the public, the WatchDog links to leaked versions published by the Project on Government Secrecy of the Federation of American Scientists.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [5]
Climate Change [19]
Military [6]
Transportation [23]
Water & Oceans [33]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about More Secret CRS Backgrounders Written at Public Expense [32]
Navy Sought To Keep Treasure Island Radiation Concerns Out of Written Record [34]

Documents obtained by the Bay Citizen, an award-winning nonprofit news organization, showed Navy officials responsible for ensuring the site was properly cleaned up trying to convince California state health officials not to put their radiation concerns in writing.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Military [6]
Visibility:
Public [9]
- Read more about Navy Sought To Keep Treasure Island Radiation Concerns Out of Written Record [34]

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