Publication Items

More Tips for Getting Around Press Office Obstruction [1]

SEJ members aren't the only ones who find federal agency press offices to be hard to get call-backs, on-record interviews, or simple information from. Many health writers have the same problem. In the latest issue of Harvard's Nieman Reports, Jenni Bergal paints a broad canvas of the problems many journalists have in getting from agencies key information that affects the public interest.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Visibility:
Public [3]
- Read more about More Tips for Getting Around Press Office Obstruction [1]
Legislation Moving in Congress Could Strengthen FOIA [4]

Sens. Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT) and John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced a bill that would add a balancing test and sunset to the "deliberative process" exemption in the current FOIA law. That exemption shields from disclosure records documenting internal policy debates within agencies before final decisions are made. Prospects for the Senate bill are improved by the fact that Leahy chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee and a related bill has already been passed by the House.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [5]
Visibility:
Public [3]
- Read more about Legislation Moving in Congress Could Strengthen FOIA [4]
Data: 1,401 High-Risk Oil and Gas Wells on Fed Land Go Uninspected [6]

Federal data, though sometimes hard to get, can provide many local stories for environmental journalists. Case in point: AP and Climate Desk journalists got data from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management on high-risk oil and gas wells on federal and Indian lands from 2009 to 2012. Some 40 percent of the high-risk wells had not been inspected. BLM says it does not have enough inspectors. See AP's exposé and Climate Desk's map showing the counties with the most uninspected wells.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [7]
Government [8]
Visibility:
Public [3]
- Read more about Data: 1,401 High-Risk Oil and Gas Wells on Fed Land Go Uninspected [6]
Will Safety Trump Secrecy in Oil-by-Rail? [9]

Should firefighters and residents know whether trains loaded with explosive oil are routed through the heart of residential districts? Many railroads say no, claiming it is a security issue. But on June 18, 2014, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) dismissed that claim, saying that oil train routing was not sensitive security information. Yet the railroads are fighting back.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [10]
Energy & Fuel [7]
People & Population [11]
Transportation [12]
Visibility:
Public [3]
- Read more about Will Safety Trump Secrecy in Oil-by-Rail? [9]
News Futures 2014: How Many Ways Will Climate Make News? [13]

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [14]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [15]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Journalism & Media [16]
Water & Oceans [17]
Region:
National (U.S.) [18]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [19]
Visibility:
Public [3]
- Read more about News Futures 2014: How Many Ways Will Climate Make News? [13]
News Innovation an Essential Skill for New Journalists [20]

In this excerpt from the latest issue of SEJournal (Spring), we debut the new EJ Academy column (a place for educators and students to explore current research on environmental journalism) with University of Michigan's Emilia Askari sharing how she and SEJ member Julie Halpert teach news innovation à la Knight Challenge style.

SEJ Publication Types:
EJ Academy [21]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Health [22]
Health [23]
Journalism & Media [16]
Region:
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [24]
Visibility:
Public [3]
- Read more about News Innovation an Essential Skill for New Journalists [20]
SEJ Answers EPA on "No Attribution" Presser [25]

SEJ has replied to EPA's June 10 justification of its "no attribution" press phone briefing on June 2. SEJ's June 12 letter of response, available here [26], acknowledges EPA's extensive public roll-out, but challenges EPA to create the conditions for a truly two-way exchange between the agency and the news media. SEJ's original June 5, 2014, letter objecting to the anonymous briefing is here [27]. The EPA response of June 10 from Associate Administrator Tom Reynolds is here. [28]

Visibility:
Public [3]
- Read more about SEJ Answers EPA on "No Attribution" Presser [25]
"Who Gets A Press Pass?" Report Explores Media Access [29]

Experienced journalists know that a press credential is often critical to gaining physical or virtual access to news events and information. It's an aspect of information access rarely covered by the news media themselves. A new report from the Digital Media Law Project at Harvard looks systematically at who gets a press card and who does not.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [16]
Visibility:
Public [3]
- Read more about "Who Gets A Press Pass?" Report Explores Media Access [29]
Ashtracker Database Helps Journos Dig Up Stories on Coal Ash Problems [30]

Local reporters can find information about coal-ash situations in their own areas using a newly improved database compiled by the Environmental Integrity Project which goes well beyond anything previously available because it includes large amounts of painstaking research by EIP. The site is important for its focus on contamination of groundwater that people may drink by the toxic heavy metals in coal combustion wastes.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters [10]
Energy & Fuel [7]
People & Population [11]
Technology [31]
Visibility:
Public [3]
- Read more about Ashtracker Database Helps Journos Dig Up Stories on Coal Ash Problems [30]
When Is a Policy Not a Policy? When Reporters Want To Talk to EPA Staff [32]

For some years now, under multiple administrations, journalists who have called EPA scientists and other experts asking to talk to them about matters large and small have almost universally been told something like, "I'm not allowed to talk to news media without Press Office permission." Yet EPA officials maintain they do not have a press policy. SEJ's WatchDog filed June 10, 2014 the first of what will be an ongoing series of FOIA requests to get to the bottom of this ironic situation.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [16]
Policy [33]
Visibility:
Public [3]
- Read more about When Is a Policy Not a Policy? When Reporters Want To Talk to EPA Staff [32]

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