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

May 19, 2010

Bush EPA Suppressed NM Waste Records To Sidestep FOIA

EPA Region 6 officials deliberately stopped creating written records related to their oversight of a New Mexico waste facility in order to thwart Freedom of Information Act requests from a citizens' group, according to an EPA Inspector General's report.

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Judge Backs Chevron's Grab for Documentary Out-takes in Ecuador Case

A federal district judge in New York ordered film-maker Joe Berlinger to turn over more than 600 hours of raw footage from his documentary "Crude," about a lawsuit by natives in Ecuador charging Chevron with polluting the Amazon rainforest there.

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Forest Service Gags Employees, Belies Obama Openness Vow

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility obtained and disclosed a USFS memo ordering its law enforcement personnel not to talk to reporters about anything without first getting clearance from its Washington director and press office.

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Did Justice Dept. Prevent Abramoff from Appearing in Abramoff Film?

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has filed FOIA requests for information, alleging that the Justice Department refused to let the incarcerated super-lobbyist do on-camera interviews.

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TOOLBOX: EPA Adds 6,300 Chemicals and 3,800 Facilities to Database

Find out more about potentially toxic chemicals in public commerce in the Envirofacts database, updated by EPA with previously unavailable information it collects under the Toxic Substances Control Act.

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TOOLBOX: Senate Expenditures Now Online

Expenditure data are not yet available for all Senators but you can search for the person you are interested in on the Center for Responsive Politics' campaign data site OpenSecrets.org.

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TOOLBOX: A Compilation of State Lawyer Licensing Databases

One tool to help tell shady lawyers from shiny is the recently updated, free, searchable online compilation at llrx.com.

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May 5, 2010

EPA's Hush-Hush Ground Rules Rile Reporters

The EPA press office continues to ask reporters not to name top EPA officials who participate in news teleconferences and brief journalists. The latest incident, remarked on by InvestigateWest's Robert McClure, was a May 4 briefing on EPA's proposed delay in issuing its coal-ash rule.

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EPA Staffers Forced To Ignore Science: Panel

Award-winning investigative journalist Sheila Kaplan, an SEJ member, published a story in Politics Daily bringing to light some 73 interviews with 450 EPA employees depicting political interference in EPA science as an ongoing problem.

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J-Groups Seek Open MSHA Inquiry

SEJ and eight other journalism organizations called on the Mine Safety and Health Administration to open to the public its investigation into the Massey mine disaster that killed 29 people.

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The SEJ WatchDog Alert

Latest WatchDog Alert Items

May 19, 2010

Bush EPA Suppressed NM Waste Records To Sidestep FOIA

Judge Backs Chevron's Grab for Documentary Out-takes in Ecuador Case

Forest Service Gags Employees, Belies Obama Openness Vow

Did Justice Dept. Prevent Abramoff from Appearing in Abramoff Film?

TOOLBOX: EPA Adds 6,300 Chemicals and 3,800 Facilities to Database

TOOLBOX: Senate Expenditures Now Online

TOOLBOX: A Compilation of State Lawyer Licensing Databases

May 5, 2010

EPA's Hush-Hush Ground Rules Rile Reporters

EPA Staffers Forced To Ignore Science: Panel

J-Groups Seek Open MSHA Inquiry

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