Publication Items

SEJournal Winter 2014, Vol. 23 No. 4 [1]

In this issue: National Geographic photographer Steve Winter and writer Sharon Guynup tell the tiger's story; user's guide to foundation-backed journalism; e-book publishing; drones and enviro journalism; book reviews; interview with SEJ Award winner Sam Eaton; and photojournalism upheaval heralds multimedia’s rise.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJournal Online [2]
Visibility:
Public [3]
- Read more about SEJournal Winter 2014, Vol. 23 No. 4 [1]
Secret CRS Reports on Environment Published [4]

Taxpayers' money funds the Congressional Research Service as it produces objective and authoritative reports on issues facing Congress — many on subjects of interest to environmental journalists. Congress, however, does not share these reports with the public who paid for them. Thanks to the Project on Government Secrecy, another batch of the reports has been leaked and published.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [5]
Topics on the Beat:
Technology [6]
Natural Resources [7]
Laws & Regulations [8]
Government [9]
Energy & Fuel [10]
Visibility:
Public [3]
- Read more about Secret CRS Reports on Environment Published [4]
Environment Canada Denied 22% of Requests for Scientist Interviews in 2013 [11]

The startling admission only bolsters critics who say the conservative Harper government is suppressing science which does not support its politics — for example, its policies on global warming or oil sands.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [5]
Topics on the Beat:
Science [12]
Environmental Politics [13]
Region:
Canada [14]
Visibility:
Public [3]
- Read more about Environment Canada Denied 22% of Requests for Scientist Interviews in 2013 [11]
Elsevier Pushes To Keep Academics from Sharing Their Research [15]

Free online publication of peer-reviewed scientific articles is essential to environmental journalists. One publisher, Elsevier, caused a stir recently by demanding that several universities take their own scholars' research down from the web or social media.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [5]
Topics on the Beat:
Science [12]
Visibility:
Public [3]
- Read more about Elsevier Pushes To Keep Academics from Sharing Their Research [15]
Dark Money Dominates Climate Change Denial Discourse [16]

Much of the public discourse denying the science of climate change and the need to take action to slow it seems to be funded by shadowy oil companies and conservative billionaires funneling hundreds of millions of dollars secretly through dummy organizations, according to a new report.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [5]
Topics on the Beat:
Economy & Business [17]
Climate Change [18]
Visibility:
Public [3]
- Read more about Dark Money Dominates Climate Change Denial Discourse [16]
Send Us Feedback: How Is the WatchDog Doing? [19]

Even the WatchDog gets a year-end review. Please let us know how we can help you, what we are doing right, and how we can do better.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [5]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [20]
Visibility:
Public [3]
- Read more about Send Us Feedback: How Is the WatchDog Doing? [19]
Database: Fracking Yields Gushers of Cash to Congress Power Brokers [21]

A study issued by the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) using campaign contribution data found the fracking industry gave increasingly more in districts hosting fracking than in nonfracking districts between 2004 and 2012.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [5]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics [13]
Energy & Fuel [10]
Visibility:
Public [3]
- Read more about Database: Fracking Yields Gushers of Cash to Congress Power Brokers [21]
J-Groups Challenge Utah Ag-Gag Law on First Amendment Grounds [22]

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and 16 other journalism organizations, including the publishers of two major Utah newspapers, filed a friend-of-the-court brief December 10, 2013, arguing that Utah's ag-gag law infringes on constitutionally protected newsgathering rights.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [5]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [8]
Food [23]
Agriculture [24]
Region:
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [25]
Visibility:
Public [3]
- Read more about J-Groups Challenge Utah Ag-Gag Law on First Amendment Grounds [22]
White House Secrecy Helps Politics Subvert Environmental Health at OMB [26]

It's true. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) helps well-heeled industry lobbyists thwart rules to protect public safety and health. Washington Post's Juliet Eilperin proves it with documents and insider interviews showing how election politics trumped open government, regulatory law, and public health in the run-up to the 2012 election.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [5]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics [13]
Environmental Health [27]
Visibility:
Public [3]
- Read more about White House Secrecy Helps Politics Subvert Environmental Health at OMB [26]
Spying on Environmental Journos No Longer Just Paranoid Fantasy [28]

Industry groups and government agencies are outsourcing the job of spying confidentially on environmental journalists to firms that hire former NSA, CIA, and FBI investigators. You are not supposed to know this. For example, Wikileaks recently released documentation on for-hire intelligence agency Stratfor's spying on award-winning ProPublica reporter Abrahm Lustgarten.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [5]
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics [13]
Visibility:
Public [3]
- Read more about Spying on Environmental Journos No Longer Just Paranoid Fantasy [28]

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