SEJ Objects to EPA Exclusion of Reporters from PFAS Summit

The Society of Environmental Journalists and the North American Agricultural Journalists have strenuously objected to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's exclusion of reporters from its May 22-23 "Summit" meeting on the toxic PFAS chemicals in drinking water.

In a letter dated May 23, 2018, SEJ President Bobby Magill wrote to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, "We urge you to repudiate this ill-considered and inappropriate approach to dealing with the press and public. Open important meetings, announcements, and events to the public and press, and make arrangements to accommodate rather than restrict access — and to answer questions."

Read the full text of SEJ's letter here.

Coverage:

• "Reporters push back on PFAS summit," FairWarning, May 29, 2018, by Chelsea Conaboy (scroll down to sixth item).
• "The Shove Heard 'Round the Planet (sort of)," Environmental Health News, May 26, 2018, by Peter Dykstra.
• "The Media Was Blocked from Attending an EPA Summit on Toxic Chemicals Two Days in a Row," ScienceAlert/Science As Fact, May 25, 2018.
• "The EPA’s increasing hostility toward the press, explained," Vox, May 25, 2018, by Umair Irfan.
• "Three news organizations unpopular at the Environmental Protection Agency were barred...," Undark Magazine, May 25, 2018, by Tom Zeller Jr (scroll down to "Also in the news", second item).
• "It’s the law, stupid, and other lessons from the EPA press blackout debacle," Poynter, May 24, 2018, by Indira Lakshmanan.
• "Politico Responds to Being Barred From EPA Summit Day 2," Newsmax, May 23, 2018, by Cathy Burke.
• "EPA bars reporters from toxic chemicals summit again," Politico, May 23, 2018, by Emily Holden.
• "Why doesn’t the US government want journalists to hear its findings on contaminated public water?," Quartz, May 23, 2018, by Zoë Schlanger.