The SEJ WatchDog Alert

The WatchDog Alert (formerly WatchDog TipSheet from 2008-2019) was a regular source of story ideas, articles, updates, events and other information with a focus on freedom-of-information issues of concern to environmental journalists in both the United States and Canada.

WatchDog was compiled, edited and written by Joseph A. Davis, who directs the WatchDog Project, an activity of SEJ's Freedom of Information Task Force that reports on secrecy trends and supports reporters' efforts to make better use of FOIA.

Topics on the Beat:

Journalism & Media

Public

Latest WatchDog Alert Items

January 2, 2013

Do Mainstream Media Disclose "Experts'" Links to Oil and Gas Industry?

Too often stories fail to disclose such industry ties, which might call into question the experts' objectivity. The Checks and Balances Project, an energy watchdog group, did an analysis of coverage in 60 publications over a five-year period with very interesting results.

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EPA Withdraws Rule on Reporting Cadmium Health Studies

EPA had on December 3, 2012, published a final rule requiring reporting of unpublished cadmium-related health and safety studies by manufacturers and importers. This rule prompted industry objections, resulting in EPA's withdrawal of the rule less than 2 weeks later.

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At Industry Urging, White House Buries Report on Toxic Threats to Children's Health

If you want to know the latest on what chemicals might give your kids learning disabilities, asthma, and other health problems, the White House Office of Management and Budget intends to keep you in the dark. It has buried since March 2011 the 3rd edition of EPA's report "America's Children and the Environment."

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December 12, 2012

Coal Slurry Database May Help Reporters Find Problem Impoundments

A fatal November 30, 2012, collapse of part of a coal-slurry impoundment in West Virginia served as a reminder of safety issues that may not be adequately regulated in some states and localities. You can locate local coal-slurry impoundments and information on their status with an online public database.

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SEJ Backs Member Threatened by Interior Secretary

The Society of Environmental Journalists wrote Interior Secretary Ken Salazar about the Election Day incident of attempted intimidation in Colorado, when the Secretary threatened to "punch out" SEJ member Dave Philipps, senior investigative reporter with the Colorado Springs Gazette.

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Pennsylvania Newspapers Get Break in Fracking Disclosure Case

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was joined by the Washington (PA) Observer-Reporter in a suit to unseal records of the July 2011 settlement of a case in which a family had sued four natural gas companies over damages they claimed were caused by hydraulic fracturing. The appeals court said a lower court had erred in throwing out the newspapers' case.

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NRC Board Orders Calif. Nuclear Plant To Turn Over Withheld Records

Is the public entitled to see documents that may bear on the safety of a for-profit utility's plan to restart the flaw-stricken San Onofre nuclear plant in California? Maybe not. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board ruled the utility must turn the documents over to the board — but currently plans to keep them secret from the public.

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November 28, 2012

Access to Fracking Info — Still Bad — Improved by Non-Gov Web Initiatives

A geeky nonprofit watchdog group has done what government and private industry have failed to do; the group, SkyTruth, has made data about the ingredients in fracking fluid easily accessible to the public.

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DHS and CDC Refuse To Give House Panel Docs on Failed BioWatch Program

After wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on a non-working program aimed at protecting the US public from biological attack, the Department of Homeland Security and Centers for Disease Control may be refusing to give documents on the program to House Energy Committee investigators.

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Undercover Muckraking a Lonely, Dangerous Job

Humaneitarian's Caroline Abels relates the story of today's muckrakers going undercover in investigations of American factory farms conducted by the Humane Society of the U.S.

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The SEJ WatchDog Alert

Latest WatchDog Alert Items

January 2, 2013

Do Mainstream Media Disclose "Experts'" Links to Oil and Gas Industry?

EPA Withdraws Rule on Reporting Cadmium Health Studies

At Industry Urging, White House Buries Report on Toxic Threats to Children's Health

December 12, 2012

Coal Slurry Database May Help Reporters Find Problem Impoundments

SEJ Backs Member Threatened by Interior Secretary

Pennsylvania Newspapers Get Break in Fracking Disclosure Case

NRC Board Orders Calif. Nuclear Plant To Turn Over Withheld Records

November 28, 2012

Access to Fracking Info — Still Bad — Improved by Non-Gov Web Initiatives

DHS and CDC Refuse To Give House Panel Docs on Failed BioWatch Program

Undercover Muckraking a Lonely, Dangerous Job

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