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

November 28, 2012

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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Obama Signs Whistleblower Bill

President Obama on November 27, 2012, signed into law a bill beefing up previously flimsy protections for federal employee whistleblowers who disclose waste, fraud, and abuse. The legislation was supported by good-government watchdog groups.

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November 14, 2012

When News Embargoes May Endanger Public Health

When NPR's David Schultz wanted to report last month on whether extra mumps vaccinations given in 2009 to Jewish children in the NYC area had worked or had side effects, he ran up against an embargo imposed by the journal Pediatrics. If you worry about how embargoes affect journalists' access, you may want to follow Embargo Watch.

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Secret CRS Reports on Environmental Topics Published

Here are more Congressional Research Service reports relevant to the environment/energy beat, published by the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy.

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Some Resources for Covering Environmental Disasters

Superstorm Sandy was a wake-up call on many levels — especially as a lesson on the need to be prepared for disasters. Here are some reporting tools that may come in handy.

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ABC News Urges Judge To Toss Out "Pink Slime" Defamation Suit

In September, South Dakota meat processor Beef Products, Inc., had sued ABC, some of its anchors and correspondents, and a USDA microbiologist under South Dakota law for reporting on the controversial meat filler. The company said it would oppose the October 31st motion to dismiss.

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Congress Sends Bill Strengthening Whistleblower Protection to Obama's Desk

Whistleblowers are key sources for investigative journalists. The bill, approved by unanimous consent in the House and Senate, was hailed by watchdog groups Government Accountability Project and Project on Government Oversight, who had fought for its passage.

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October 31, 2012

Groups Petition EPA To Disclose Fracking Emissions

The gas industry won itself an exemption from disclosure requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act in 2005. But now environmentalists have a new angle, claiming EPA has authority to compel disclosure under a different law (the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act) — and urging EPA to use it.

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Enviros Urge EPA Not To Weaken Drinking Water Reports

Fifteen environmental and public health groups say EPA had not allowed sufficient time for public review, only put relevant information into its docket at the last minute, and emphasized easing a "burden" utilities had lived with for years at the expense of protecting the public.

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Journalists Complain About PIO "Minders"

Gripes about PIO policies are not new. Now an article in the Society of Professional Journalists' Quill magazine takes the complaint to a higher level, arguing PIO restrictions are not aimed at access and accuracy, and urging journalists to resist the PIO requirements in their own work — and to work together nationally to elevate the PIO censorship issue.

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The SEJ WatchDog Alert

Latest WatchDog Alert Items

November 28, 2012

Undercover Muckraking a Lonely, Dangerous Job

Obama Signs Whistleblower Bill

November 14, 2012

When News Embargoes May Endanger Public Health

Secret CRS Reports on Environmental Topics Published

Some Resources for Covering Environmental Disasters

ABC News Urges Judge To Toss Out "Pink Slime" Defamation Suit

Congress Sends Bill Strengthening Whistleblower Protection to Obama's Desk

October 31, 2012

Groups Petition EPA To Disclose Fracking Emissions

Enviros Urge EPA Not To Weaken Drinking Water Reports

Journalists Complain About PIO "Minders"

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