Publication Items

Dark Hand of OMB Lifted from FOIA Recommendations — Or So They Say [1]

OMB sat on the Office of Government Information Services recommendations for over a year, until a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in March 2012 demanded OMB release the recommendations, which finally happened April 24th. However, no recommendations for legislative change were included. Nobody knows what, if any, legislative recommendations OGIS may have originally proposed.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Policy [3]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Government [5]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Dark Hand of OMB Lifted from FOIA Recommendations — Or So They Say [1]
Sad But True: Many Agency Press Offices Stifle Reporter Contact with Employees [7]

Now there is research proving what reporters have known all along, thanks to a survey from the Society of Professional Journalists. SPJ commissioned work by survey research professionals who canvassed newsgatherers during January-February 2012. Here are some of the findings and a link to the full report.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [8]
Government [5]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Sad But True: Many Agency Press Offices Stifle Reporter Contact with Employees [7]
Cool Data Tools: EPA Releases NEPAssist Mapper [9]

For reporters wanting to pry open the worm-cans of local environmental stories, EPA's new GIS tool lets you map Environmental Impact Statements project information against a rich backdrop: layer after layer of geographic, demographic, environmental, and economic context. And, it can be used in conjunction with EJView, EPA's environmental justice online mapping tool.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Technology [10]
Policy [3]
People & Population [11]
Government [5]
Economy & Business [12]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Cool Data Tools: EPA Releases NEPAssist Mapper [9]
BP To Get Gulf Oil Spill Information Withheld from Public [13]

After complaints from BP, the US government agreed to give the company evidence of the basis for its calculation of the flow rate from the stricken Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico. The government will hand over to BP some 100 documents about the size of the 2010 oil spill that have not yet been made public.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [14]
Fish & Fisheries [15]
Environmental Politics [16]
Environmental Health [17]
Energy & Fuel [18]
Economy & Business [12]
Disasters [19]
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [20]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about BP To Get Gulf Oil Spill Information Withheld from Public [13]
Data Accumulates Slowly on What's in Fracking Fluid [21]

If you have a fracking story in your beat, getting information about what's in the controversial fracking fluids may be like pulling teeth. But there are a few resources that can help, such as the "FracFocus" chemical disclosure registry.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Water & Oceans [14]
Natural Resources [22]
Laws & Regulations [4]
Energy & Fuel [18]
Economy & Business [12]
Chemicals [23]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Data Accumulates Slowly on What's in Fracking Fluid [21]
New Arizona Law Limits Disclosure of Companies' Environmental Self-Audits [24]

The information would still have to be provided to the state. Companies would not gain immunity from enforcement merely by auditing themselves.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [4]
Economy & Business [12]
Region:
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [25]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about New Arizona Law Limits Disclosure of Companies' Environmental Self-Audits [24]
Denver Post Exposes FDA Secrecy on Food Threats to Public Health [26]

Reporter Michael Booth's story resurrected the old issue of whether the public has a right to know the identity and source of foods in commerce that government agencies actually know may be causing fatal illness. The FDA refused to comment on the story.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Health [27]
Government [5]
Food [28]
Economy & Business [12]
Consumer [29]
Agriculture [30]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Denver Post Exposes FDA Secrecy on Food Threats to Public Health [26]
Global Talks Offer Chance To Improve US Extractive Industries Transparency [31]

An initiative involving some 35 nations aims to solve many complex revenue-reporting problems, including improving the flow of information across national borders. But solutions can't even begin until individual nations get a grip on accurate data about extractive industries within their own borders. The results could illuminate key environmental policy issues.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Policy [3]
Natural Resources [22]
Forests [32]
Energy & Fuel [18]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Global Talks Offer Chance To Improve US Extractive Industries Transparency [31]
Are Data Behind Companies' Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trade Secrets? [33]

EPA's upcoming rulings on confidentiality for data going into the companies' GHG calculations will be important. Those determinations may impact whether companies' reporting is accurate — and whether they can ever be held accountable for their emissions.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Pollution [34]
Health [27]
Environmental Health [17]
Economy & Business [12]
Climate Change [35]
Air [36]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about Are Data Behind Companies' Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trade Secrets? [33]
RTK Net Reporting Tools Still Sharp After Many Years [37]

The Right-To-Know Network has been around since 1989. Today, with a modern and searchable Web interface, it offers access to some data that reporters would be hard put to find anywhere else. Most important is its collection of Risk Management Plans — which chemical plants are required to maintain to prevent, prepare for, and respond to toxic disasters.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals [23]
Disasters [19]
Journalism & Media [8]
Technology [10]
Visibility:
Public [6]
- Read more about RTK Net Reporting Tools Still Sharp After Many Years [37]

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