Publication Items

Secret CRS Reports of Interest to Environmental Journalists

Congress still refuses to publish unclassified reports on subjects of general public interest done by the Congressional Research Service, even though they are funded by taxpayer dollars. Here are several, courtesy of the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet
Topics on the Beat:
Government
Visibility:
Public
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Iowa Outlaws Some Undercover Investigations As Other States Mull Bills

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (pictured) signed the so-called "Ag Gag" bill into law March 2, 2012, making it a crime to obtain access to an agricultural facility "under false pretenses" — without defining "false pretenses." Does this apply to hidden cameras? Animal rights activists have often resorted to hidden cameras — and shared with news media photos and videos of shocking cruelty to animals.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media
Government
Region:
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD)
Visibility:
Public
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Va. Supreme Court Denies Cuccinelli Access to Climate Scientist Emails

Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R, pictured at left), who avows himself a global warming skeptic, had sought from the University of Virginia grant applications by former U.Va. climate scientist Michael Mann, creator of the "hockey stick" graph, and emails between Mann and other scientists.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations
Climate Change
Region:
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV)
Visibility:
Public
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SEJ Members Toast New Books and Projects on Wide Range of Science, Environment Topics

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News
Visibility:
Public
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So Now You’re A Freelancer. Here Are Some Very Important Things To Consider.

Bud Ward covers topics of interest to freelancers, including cash flow, incorporation, health insurance, business expenses and more.

SEJ Publication Types:
Freelance Files
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media
Visibility:
Public
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Toolbox: Covering Stormwater Pollution and Control

Stormwater becomes a big media story during disasters such as floods and hurricane surges, and it's essential to cover the basics then. But there are dozens of related issues that can contribute to the disaster, and covering them in advance can help your audience understand ways of possibly preventing the peak crises.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet
Topics on the Beat:
Planning & Growth
Pollution
Water & Oceans
Visibility:
Public
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SEJ’s 2011 Annual Conference in Miami Achieves Many Firsts, Setting New Standard

SEJ News

By JAY LETTO

The Miami extravaganza was easily SEJ’s most ambitious annual conference ever. The star-studded Wednesday evening opening reception set the stage for a whirlwind of activity and news-making field trips and presentations that kept members running and writing till they collapsed Sunday morning at the peaceful Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden.
SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ News
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN)
Visibility:
Public
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Transparency Watch Project Raises Serious Concerns About Government Access

SEJ President Carolyn Whetzel discusses a recent project by Columbia Journalism Review and ProPublica which revealed it’s not just SEJ members who have a tough time gaining access to federal information or scheduling interviews with scientists or other experts at federal agencies.

SEJ Publication Types:
SEJ Presidents Report
Visibility:
Public
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Despite High Court, Navy Keeps WA Town in Dark on Explosion Threat

A landmark Supreme Court decision awarded Port Townsend residents the right to know about the potential location of explosives on the Indian Island Naval Magazine near their town. After losing the case, the Defense Department bolstered its legal grounds for secrecy by asking Congress to slip into the 2012 Defense Authorization an amendment creating a new statutory exemption to FOIA for the DOD.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet
Topics on the Beat:
Military
Laws & Regulations
Disasters
Region:
Northwest (OR WA)
Visibility:
Public
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Should Taxpayers Be Able To Read the Research They Pay For? Congress Not Sure

A bill that would mandate open public access, free of charge, to papers resulting from federally funded research is currently languishing in the GOP-controlled House. Private for-profit publishing companies aim to stop it, preserving their control over the science publishing market. One of these is Elsevier, the largest single academic publisher in the world, currently being boycotted by almost 7,000 researchers worldwide.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet
Topics on the Beat:
Environmental Politics
Visibility:
Public
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