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, 2008

TOOLBOX: New Resources for Tracking FED Spending Now Out

Some new, sharper tools are available for reporters who want to investigate patterns of federal spending or specific cases of interest.

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Conservation Group Sues for Documents on Resigned Interior Official

The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), a conservationist group that litigates wildlife-protection issues, has filed suit challenging Interior Department secrecy on a political scandal.

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December 12, 2007

EPA HIDES INDUSTRY DATA ON ATRAZINE RISK

An EPA database that has not been made public shows alarming levels of the pesticide atrazine are showing up in water bodies around the U.S.

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REVISED FOIA BILL MAY BE SET FOR FAST TRACK

Senate sponsors of a bipartisan Senate bill to strengthen agency compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) have crafted a compromise version and reintroduced it in hopes of speeding Congressional action.

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NIEHS Follow-Up: Assurances of a Robust, Independent Journal?

Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP), the embattled flagship journal of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has a new editor-in-chief - Hugh A. Tilson. But will he have the editorial independence NIEHS leaders have promised him?

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SEJ President Testifies at Interior Photo-Fee Hearing

SEJ President Timothy B. Wheeler testified before a full committee oversight hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee, that a proposed rule governing photography in National Park System units and Wildlife Refuges could restrict media access to these public lands and limit their coverage of natural resource issues.

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States Sue EPA Over Data on Plants' Toxic Threat to Communities

Twelve states sued EPA Oct. 28, 2007, over the agency's cutbacks in data available to communities about the toxic threats presented to them by nearby industrial plants.

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November 28, 2007

SEJ, OTHER J-GROUPS ASK SENATE TO DROP ANIMAL SECRECY

Even as major companies recalled their shipments of hamburgers made with possibly tainted meat, beef and pork lobbyists worked hard to keep U.S meat eaters from finding out what was going on. They lobbied to amend the Farm Bill to include secrecy language that would make make it illegal for anyone to publicly disclose such information. SEJ and other journalism organization are urging senators to remove that language from the bill.

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CRS PUBLISHES BACKGROUNDER ON JOURNALISTS' PRIVILEGE

The Oct. 18, 2007 issue of Congressional Research Service has published a useful backgrounder on the current lack of a "shield law" protecting reporters from legal penalties, including jail, when they refuse prosecutors' requests to disclose the identities of confidential sources.

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HOUSE PANEL TO HOLD HEARING ON PARK PHOTO FEES DEC. 12

The House Resources Committee will hold a hearing Dec. 12, 2007, to air concerns that proposed Interior Department rules requiring fees and permits for photography and sound recording on public lands could limit freedom of the press.

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The SEJ WatchDog Alert

Latest WatchDog Alert Items

January 2, 2008

TOOLBOX: New Resources for Tracking FED Spending Now Out

Conservation Group Sues for Documents on Resigned Interior Official

December 12, 2007

EPA HIDES INDUSTRY DATA ON ATRAZINE RISK

REVISED FOIA BILL MAY BE SET FOR FAST TRACK

NIEHS Follow-Up: Assurances of a Robust, Independent Journal?

SEJ President Testifies at Interior Photo-Fee Hearing

States Sue EPA Over Data on Plants' Toxic Threat to Communities

November 28, 2007

SEJ, OTHER J-GROUPS ASK SENATE TO DROP ANIMAL SECRECY

CRS PUBLISHES BACKGROUNDER ON JOURNALISTS' PRIVILEGE

HOUSE PANEL TO HOLD HEARING ON PARK PHOTO FEES DEC. 12

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