Publication Items

Arrest of Four Near Hog Farm Tests Utah's "Ag Gag" Law [1]

One way to deal with bad press is to make it illegal. Exposés of inhumane conditions at feedlots and slaughterhouses are being made illegal by state legislatures that pass "ag gag" laws. Now a case in Utah is challenging whether industrial agriculture's claims of secrecy trump the eating public's right to know. Image: Sows in 7'x2' Smithfield Foods gestation crates. By Humane Society of the US [CC], 2010. [2]

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [3]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [4]
Agriculture [5]
Consumer [6]
Health [7]
Journalism & Media [8]
Laws & Regulations [9]
Pollution [10]
Region:
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [11]
Northwest (OR WA) [12]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Arrest of Four Near Hog Farm Tests Utah's "Ag Gag" Law [1]
Celebrating 25 Years, Fluff Free [14]

In this last column of his SEJ presidency, Don Hopey addresses the environment beat's necessity and SEJ’s role in it by focusing on two events, one just past, the other approaching quickly.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ Presidents Report [15]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [8]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Celebrating 25 Years, Fluff Free [14]
Thanks to These Generous Members and Friends Who Supported SEJ’s Work in 2013 [16]

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News [17]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [8]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Thanks to These Generous Members and Friends Who Supported SEJ’s Work in 2013 [16]
"Rachel Carson and Her Sisters: Extraordinary Women Who Have Shaped America’s Environment" [18]

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [19]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Studies [20]
Journalism & Media [8]
People & Population [21]
Science [22]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about "Rachel Carson and Her Sisters: Extraordinary Women Who Have Shaped America’s Environment" [18]
Congress Could Still Pass FOIA Reform [23]

There is still a chance that Congress could pass legislation strengthening the Freedom of Information Act before it adjourns. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a fix-FOIA bill (S 2520) November 20, 2014, setting up the possibility of full-Senate floor action. The Society of Environmental Journalists has urged Congress and the President to support such legislation.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [3]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [24]
Journalism & Media [8]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Congress Could Still Pass FOIA Reform [23]
J-Groups Call on Forest Service To Drop Permit Requirements [25]

A coalition of journalism groups, including SEJ, is calling on the U.S. Forest Service to make clear in its directives that journalists, documentarians, and media photographers do not need permits to take pictures in National Forest Wilderness or other public lands.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [3]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics [26]
Forests [27]
Journalism & Media [8]
Policy [28]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about J-Groups Call on Forest Service To Drop Permit Requirements [25]
Trendspotting on the Science Beat [29]

"Inside Story" editor Beth Daley interviews Chemical & Engineering News' Cheryl Hogue, who won first place in SEJ’s 13th annual awards for outstanding beat reporting small market, for stories including how microbeads in personal care products impact the environment and how the Small Business Association has become a mouthpiece for industry on chemical issues. Photo: Microbeads on penny; courtesy 5 Gyres Institute.

SEJ Publication Types:
Inside Story [30]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [8]
Science [22]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Trendspotting on the Science Beat [29]
BLM FOIA Office "Fails To Provide Public Records" [31]

The growing number of threats and assaults against employees of federal land agencies in the West is certainly the public's business. But efforts to document it by High Country News using the Freedom of Information Act have been thwarted by the Bureau of Land Management's central FOIA office. Veteran journalist Ray Ring tells the sad tale in HCN.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [3]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Studies [20]
Journalism & Media [8]
Laws & Regulations [9]
Region:
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [11]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about BLM FOIA Office "Fails To Provide Public Records" [31]
SEJ Urges Obama to Take Stand on Bipartisan FOIA Bills [32]

The Society of Environmental Journalists wrote President Barack Obama October 23, 2014, urging him to take a strong position supporting legislation that would strengthen the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Bipartisan FOIA improvements may be one of the few pieces of legislation with a chance to clear the lame duck 113th Congress before control shifts to Republicans in 2015.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [3]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [24]
Journalism & Media [8]
Laws & Regulations [9]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about SEJ Urges Obama to Take Stand on Bipartisan FOIA Bills [32]
Chief Tidwell Directs Forest Service: No Permits, Fees for Journos [33]

"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 [3]
Topics on the Beat:
Forests [27]
Journalism & Media [8]
Laws & Regulations [9]
Natural Resources [34]
Policy [28]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Chief Tidwell Directs Forest Service: No Permits, Fees for Journos [33]

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