Cookie Control

This site uses cookies to store information on your computer.

Some cookies on this site are essential, and the site won't work as expected without them. These cookies are set when you submit a form, login or interact with the site by doing something that goes beyond clicking on simple links.

We also use some non-essential cookies to anonymously track visitors or enhance your experience of the site. If you're not happy with this, we won't set these cookies but some nice features of the site may be unavailable.

By using our site you accept the terms of our Privacy Policy.

(One cookie will be set to store your preference)

Do not ask me again
(Ticking this sets a cookie to hide this popup if you then hit close. This will not store any personal information)

Publication Items

Do Arizona Journalists Have To Show Their Papers?

Access to legislatures is critical to journalistic coverage of government — at least if government is to be accountable and democratic. So it caused a stir when Arizona House Speaker David Gowan (R) banned reporters from the floor unless they passed extensive background checks.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet
Topics on the Beat:
Government
Region:
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX)
Visibility:
Public
- Read more about Do Arizona Journalists Have To Show Their Papers?
Oil Lobby Group Part of Government — Doesn't Have To Disclose

The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC) lobbied successfully to pass and preserve the "Halliburton Loophole," which exempts the oil and gas industry from the law requiring disclosure of toxic fracking chemicals.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals
Energy & Fuel
Environmental Politics
Pollution
Visibility:
Public
- Read more about Oil Lobby Group Part of Government — Doesn't Have To Disclose
High-Hazard Chem Plants — Can Secrecy Substitute for Safety?

Reflexive secrecy has been a hallmark of government efforts to deal with highly hazardous chemical facilities in recent decades. Another reminder of that secrecy came in an April 11, 2016, piece in Greenwire by Sam Pearson. Photo: The fertilizer plant in West, Texas, that exploded in 2013, killing 15 people, by Shane Torgerson, courtesy of Wikipedia.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals
Disasters
Environmental Politics
Visibility:
Public
- Read more about High-Hazard Chem Plants — Can Secrecy Substitute for Safety?
Climate Documentarian Motivated by the Heart

“Gasland” filmmaker Josh Fox is back with what may be the longest film title in recent documentary history — “How to Let Go of the World (and Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change).” And it looks like another game-changer. JoAnn Valenti reviews the film

SEJ Publication Types:
Features
Topics on the Beat:
Activism
Climate Change
Journalism & Media
Visibility:
Public
- Read more about Climate Documentarian Motivated by the Heart
Toxic Chemicals in a Pinch: Some Help for Journalists

If you are an environmental reporter, it is only a matter of time before a reader asks you, "What's up with pentachlorophenol?" Or a grouchy editor demands to know, "What's the difference between trichloroethylene and trichloroethane?" Help is on the way. Read on.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet
Topics on the Beat:
Chemicals
Visibility:
Public
- Read more about Toxic Chemicals in a Pinch: Some Help for Journalists
Pavillion, Wyo., Fracking Study Unplugged with FOIA

In 2011, EPA produced — and subsequently buried — a draft report on fracking contamination at Pavillion, Wyoming. Now one of the authors of the original draft has co-published a review of the research in the independent journal Environmental Science & Technology. The new study, based on FOIA'd documents, links fracking and polluted wells.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel
Environmental Politics
Pollution
Water & Oceans
Region:
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY)
Visibility:
Public
- Read more about Pavillion, Wyo., Fracking Study Unplugged with FOIA
Nine Years After Request for FEMA Katrina Records: Nothing

The Project on Government Oversight FOIA'd FEMA/DHS in 2006 for documents that might reveal hanky-panky with billions of dollars in Hurricane Katrina recovery contracts. In December 2015, DHS finally wrote POGO to say that disclosing the records would constitute an "unwarranted invasion of privacy."

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet
Topics on the Beat:
Disasters
Economy & Business
Environmental Politics
Region:
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN)
Visibility:
Public
- Read more about Nine Years After Request for FEMA Katrina Records: Nothing
Did Big Food Just Lose the GMO Disclosure War?

Tens of millions have been spent on lobbying and advertising by the mainstream food industry to defeat a series of state-by-state measures requiring food labels to disclose GMO content. Now, Vermont is poised to implement a GMO-labelling law.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet
Topics on the Beat:
Food
Laws & Regulations
Region:
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT)
Visibility:
Public
- Read more about Did Big Food Just Lose the GMO Disclosure War?
Senate Passes FOIA Improvement Bill

The Senate March 15, 2016, unanimously passed a bill (S 337) improving the 50-year-old Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). But the appearance of bipartisan consensus may belie a rocky road to final enactment in a highly politicized election year.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations
Visibility:
Public
- Read more about Senate Passes FOIA Improvement Bill
The Path to Better Investigative Science Reporting

In the latest Reporter's Toolbox, Climate Central senior science writer John Upton defines investigative science reporting’s major role, and shares his personal nine ways to do the job better.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change
Forests
Journalism & Media
Region:
National (U.S.)
Europe
Visibility:
Public
- Read more about The Path to Better Investigative Science Reporting

Pages

Browse Publications

Advertisement

Advertise with SEJ