Publication Items

ECHO 2.0 Database Gives Environmental Gumshoes a Better Clue [1]

Got scofflaw polluters in your audience area? Are they owned by political fat cats? Is EPA cutting them more slack than they deserve? Such questions are easier to answer thanks to a recent upgrade of the Environmental Protection Agency's ECHO database, a key tool for environmental investigative reporters.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Technology [3]
Pollution [4]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about ECHO 2.0 Database Gives Environmental Gumshoes a Better Clue [1]
Senate Panel: Health and Safety Regs Vanish in Black Hole of OMB [6]

For a decade now, the WatchDog has been telling the story of how the Office of Management and Budget sandbags public health regs, at the behest of business groups who stand to profit, by short-circuiting open legal procedures meant to ensure government integrity. The next chapter was told October 25, 2013, before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight, Federal Rights and Agency Action.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [7]
Health [8]
Government [9]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Senate Panel: Health and Safety Regs Vanish in Black Hole of OMB [6]
Words Versus Deeds: Obama's National Action Plan for Openness [10]

On October 31, 2013, the White House issued a preview of its "Second Open Government National Action Plan," outlining some steps it hopes to take toward more transparent government. Is it a new direction for an administration whose words on openness have often not been matched by deeds — or a misdirection?

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [7]
Government [9]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Words Versus Deeds: Obama's National Action Plan for Openness [10]
Report Slams Obama Administration Secrecy [11]

You may call that government official a "source" — but to the Obama administration he or she is an "Insider Threat" subject to lie detector tests, wiretapping, and criminal prosecution. That's the conclusion of a new report by former Washington Post Executive Editor Len Downie, published by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [9]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Report Slams Obama Administration Secrecy [11]
Canadian Scientists Can't Speak Freely: Survey [12]

Eighty-six percent of the 4,069 scientists surveyed by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada said "that, if faced with a political decision putting public health, safety or the environment at risk, they do not believe they could speak out without repercussions."

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Science [13]
Government [9]
Region:
Canada [14]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Canadian Scientists Can't Speak Freely: Survey [12]
Toolbox: Data Resources for Dams, Impoundments, and Levees [15]

A key set of tools for reporters probing dam issues at any level, local to national, are the available databases on various kinds of dams, levees, and impoundments. The WatchDog in this issue presents a special "Reporters' Toolbox" on these data sets. We hope at least to help reporters find and access them.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [16]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [17]
Disasters [18]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Toolbox: Data Resources for Dams, Impoundments, and Levees [15]
Dams and Levees: What You Don't Know Might Kill You [19]

Tens of thousands of U.S. citizens are at risk from potential dam disasters, yet state and federal agencies hold to a policy that amounts to "out of sight, out of mind." The biggest danger, apparently, is that the public might find out about the dangers, and criticize insufficient dam safety measures, inconvenience private dam owners, depress real estate values, or demand public spending that is politically painful for those in office.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [16]
Planning & Growth [20]
People & Population [21]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [17]
Disasters [18]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Dams and Levees: What You Don't Know Might Kill You [19]
Dams and Levees: Introduction [22]

This special issue of the WatchDog focuses on the transparency of safety information related to dams, levees, impoundments, and related water-control structures. For environmental journalists, these subjects offer a goldmine of great story possibilities. These are stories that have not been covered much in the past decade, and stories that fit well at the local, state, or regional level.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [16]
Planning & Growth [20]
People & Population [21]
Nuclear Power & Radiation [17]
Energy & Fuel [23]
Disasters [18]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Dams and Levees: Introduction [22]
Get Feet Wet on Coastal Adaptation [24]

Special Report: Part Three

By KATE SHEPPARD

Americans — and humans in general — have long flocked to the coasts. Thirty-nine percent of the U.S. population, or about 123 million of us, live in coastal counties. But many in coastal areas are finding it increasingly less hospitable due to sea-level rise and extreme weather events linked to climate change. As communities figure out how to adapt to these changes, it is often environmental journalists who are being asked to cover these complex stories.
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [16]
Planning & Growth [20]
People & Population [21]
Climate Change [25]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Get Feet Wet on Coastal Adaptation [24]
The Dirt on Ag & Adaptation [26]

Special Report: Part One

By CHRIS CLAYTON

If you’re looking to connect average Americans to climate change and to how they will have to adapt to it, why not report on the future of food and agriculture? After all, most Americans may not visit the polar ice caps, but everyone needs to eat.
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [25]
Food [27]
People & Population [21]
Planning & Growth [20]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about The Dirt on Ag & Adaptation [26]

Special Report: Part Three

Special Report: Part One

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