Publication Items

Hopeful Signs For SEJ's FOI Efforts [1]

By JOSEPH A. DAVIS

That old feeling of helplessness is gone. The news media and public no longer see erosion of the First Amendment, the Freedom of Information Act and disclosure requirements in many environmental laws as inevitable ... and worse, unimportant.

Or so a recent vote in Congress signaled.
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [2]
Region:
National (U.S.) [3]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about Hopeful Signs For SEJ's FOI Efforts [1]
Platte River At The Crossroads: SEJ Regional Focuses On Spectacular Wildlife Migration [5]

There we were, 21 environmental reporters, freelancers, students and professors, all huddled and shivering in an unheated blind on the Platte River.

We were waiting in the breezy, 20-degree cold for thousands of lesser sandhill cranes to return from feeding in the corn fields and roost for the night on protective sandbars. Each spring, the cranes leave their southwest wintering spots and stop in central Nebraska to rest and eat before heading out to their Arctic nesting grounds.
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [6]
Region:
National (U.S.) [3]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about Platte River At The Crossroads: SEJ Regional Focuses On Spectacular Wildlife Migration [5]
No Matter The Name, The Only Agenda Is Pure Journalism [7]

By PERRY BEEMAN

Some years ago, a board member or two suggested SEJ change its name.

Why? Because the phrase "environmental journalists" seemed to suggest "environmentalist journalists" to some, especially those who suspect the group has some sort of environmental agenda akin to the Sierra Club's.
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [2]
Region:
National (U.S.) [3]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about No Matter The Name, The Only Agenda Is Pure Journalism [7]
A Dozen (Or More) TV Stories To Sell Your News Manager For Sweeps [8]

By VINCE PATTON

In Miami, NBC-6 reporter Jeff Burnside thought he had a great story about the restoration of bountiful seagrass beds. But managers weren't interested.

"Later," Burnside says, "I pitched a story about steep fines for boaters running aground." That story they liked.
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [2]
Region:
National (U.S.) [3]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about A Dozen (Or More) TV Stories To Sell Your News Manager For Sweeps [8]
WV Reporter Uses FOIA To Probe Drilling Waste [9]

Billy Wolfe, of the Clarksburg Exponent Telegram, learns more about the chemicals in the hydraulic fracturing fluid used by gas-drilling companies.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [11]
Natural Resources [12]
Waste [13]
Government [14]
Journalism & Media [2]
Region:
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [15]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about WV Reporter Uses FOIA To Probe Drilling Waste [9]
Canadian Court Takes up Shield Issue [16]

The Supreme Court of Canada will consider this week a request by the National Post, civil liberties and media groups to overturn an Appeal ruling that police investigations override the Charter guarantee of free expression.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [14]
Journalism & Media [2]
Region:
Canada [17]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about Canadian Court Takes up Shield Issue [16]
EPA Puts Status of FOIA Requests Online [18]

The browsable report lists the date the request was received, the date a response is due, and the status.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [14]
Region:
National (U.S.) [3]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about EPA Puts Status of FOIA Requests Online [18]
Toolbox: RMP*Comp Projects Chemical Disaster Scenarios [19]

Use this free software tool, downloadable from EPA, to calculate how much injury a chemical spill could cause.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [11]
Disasters [20]
Region:
National (U.S.) [3]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [15]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about Toolbox: RMP*Comp Projects Chemical Disaster Scenarios [19]
Forest Activists Drop Suit on Press-Conference Ejection [21]

After an appeals court ruling against them, and running out of funds, conservationists dropped their suit against the Forest Service for escorting them from a press conference on a Bitterroot National Forest timber sale.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Forests [22]
Government [14]
Region:
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [23]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about Forest Activists Drop Suit on Press-Conference Ejection [21]
Analysis: Obama Openness Has Yet To Fulfill Promise [24]

Watchdog groups and the Associated Press report on federal agency foot-dragging in making a reality of Obama administration declarations that it would foster government transparency.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [10]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [14]
Policy [25]
Region:
National (U.S.) [3]
Visibility:
Public [4]
- Read more about Analysis: Obama Openness Has Yet To Fulfill Promise [24]

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