Publication Items

Access to Places: A Few Basics for Journalists [1]

The University of Missouri "safe space" incident on Nov 9, 2015 rekindled questions and debate about journalists' First Amendment right of access to spaces. One of the best practical guides to law on this issue is the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press publication, "A Reporter's Field Guide."

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [3]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Region:
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [5]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Access to Places: A Few Basics for Journalists [1]
How Transparent Is Your State? Check the Ratings [7]

The Center for Public Integrity systematically rated the 50 state governments on various measures of integrity. One of those was transparency. Only three states scored higher than D+.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [8]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about How Transparent Is Your State? Check the Ratings [7]
WyoFile Publishes Photos in Defiance of State's Censorship Law [10]

Wyoming's legislature calls it "data trespass." Really? The state in March 2015 made it illegal to collect and report information about stream pollution or other environmental harm — when it involves entering private land. One independent publication invited its readers to collect and post such potentially illegal photos.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics [11]
Natural Resources [12]
Pollution [13]
Region:
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [14]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about WyoFile Publishes Photos in Defiance of State's Censorship Law [10]
NICAR To Publish Long-Suppressed National Inventory of Dams [15]

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.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [16]
Government [8]
People & Population [17]
Water & Oceans [18]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about NICAR To Publish Long-Suppressed National Inventory of Dams [15]
Was EPA Forthcoming with Mine Spill Water Data? Depends Whom You Ask [19]

Access to water quality data was an issue at one highly politicized House hearing on the August 5, 2015, toxic spill from a long-abandoned mine near Silverton, Colorado, where New Mexico Secretary of Environment Ryan Flynn accused EPA of refusing for weeks to share data on the quality of waters fouled by the spill.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [16]
Environmental Politics [11]
Government [8]
Pollution [13]
Region:
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [14]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [20]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Was EPA Forthcoming with Mine Spill Water Data? Depends Whom You Ask [19]
"The Great Texas Wind Rush: How George Bush, Ann Richards, and a Bunch of Tinkerers Helped the Oil and Gas State Win the Race to Wind Power" [21]

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [22]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [23]
Region:
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [20]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about "The Great Texas Wind Rush: How George Bush, Ann Richards, and a Bunch of Tinkerers Helped the Oil and Gas State Win the Race to Wind Power" [21]
Secret Reports to Congress — Revealed for Environmental Reporters [24]

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.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [23]
Natural Resources [12]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [25]
Water & Oceans [18]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
California [26]
Africa [27]
Antarctica & Arctic [28]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Secret Reports to Congress — Revealed for Environmental Reporters [24]
Settlement Sets Disclosure on Decade-old Gulf Oil Leak [29]

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.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [16]
Energy & Fuel [23]
Environmental Politics [11]
Fish & Fisheries [30]
Pollution [13]
Water & Oceans [18]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [31]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Settlement Sets Disclosure on Decade-old Gulf Oil Leak [29]
State Judge Orders Disclosure of Maryland Oil Train Data [32]

A Maryland state judge this month ordered a state agency to give news media routing information about oil trains within Maryland — adding momentum to efforts to warn firefighters and communities about dangers they face. Photo: 2013 Lac Megantic, Quebec, disaster, by Elias Schewel/Flickr. [33]

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [16]
Energy & Fuel [23]
People & Population [17]
Transportation [34]
Region:
National (U.S.) [9]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [35]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about State Judge Orders Disclosure of Maryland Oil Train Data [32]
Lustgarten Says Data on Who Gets Ag Subsidies Is Rare as Hens' Teeth [36]

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.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Agriculture [37]
Policy [38]
Water & Oceans [18]
Region:
California [26]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [14]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [20]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Lustgarten Says Data on Who Gets Ag Subsidies Is Rare as Hens' Teeth [36]

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