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 25, 2016

Green Climate Fund Disclosure Policy Raises Issues

The multibillion-dollar Green Climate Fund, established after the 2009 Copenhagen climate talks to help developing countries adapt, offers many kinds of news to environmental reporters. So controversies around the fund's information disclosure policies are important.

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May 11, 2016

House Science Panel Probes EPA Unpublishing of Glyphosate Report

U.S. EPA on April 29, 2016, posted on its website the 2015 "final" report by its Cancer Assessment Review Committee on the widely used herbicide glyphosate, sold commercially by Monsanto as Roundup. But on May 2, the report vanished from the EPA site.

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Commodity Groups Slip FOIA Exemption into House Appropriations Bill

The language, in the report accompanying the bill, declares that employees of the marketing boards are "not government employees," and "urges the USDA to recognize" that such boards are exempt from FOIA. Image: © Clipart.com.

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Leaked Again: Secret CRS Reports for Environment Beat

Here are the latest leaked explainers, written by the Congressional Research Service, that may be of use to environmental journalists.

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Farm News Fires Cartoonist for Lampooning Ag Firm CEOs' Pay

The Iowa-based publication Farm News has fired an editorial cartoonist who had contributed to the publication for 21 years. His crime: pointing out that the CEOs of Monsanto, Dupont Pioneer and John Deere made far more than average farmers.

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April 27, 2016

Citizens Group Says Libel Suit from Landfill Company Meant To Silence

Black Belt Citizens Fighting for Health and Justice says the landfill, which has accepted millions of pounds of coal ash from the 2008 Tennessee spill, violates their civil rights. The community surrounding the landfill is predominantly poor and African-American.

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Money Woes Weaken Media's Ability To Defend 1st Amendment: Editors

A survey of 66 top-level U.S. editors suggests that the media's ability to defend the First Amendment is wilting — and that lack of money is one of the problems. The survey was conducted by a partnership of Knight Foundation, the American Society of News Editors, the Associated Press Media Editors, and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

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Can House, Senate, Meld FOIA Bills In Politicized Election Year?

The Congressional Research Service has compiled a side-by-side analysis comparing the two bills. With only a few months of real work remaining in this volatile election year, it is not a sure thing that Congress will clear the legislation. Open-government groups on March 16, 2016, urged Obama to declare support for the legislation.

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LEPCs, SERCs, Should Aid Journos Covering Chem Threats. Does Yours?

Many local and state agencies, set up under a 1986 federal law to inform the public, are a great resource for stories at the local, state, and even national level. Some don't — often based on a fear that terrorists could use the information to harm people. Here's how to find yours.

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April 13, 2016

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.

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The SEJ WatchDog Alert

Latest WatchDog Alert Items

May 25, 2016

Green Climate Fund Disclosure Policy Raises Issues

May 11, 2016

House Science Panel Probes EPA Unpublishing of Glyphosate Report

Commodity Groups Slip FOIA Exemption into House Appropriations Bill

Leaked Again: Secret CRS Reports for Environment Beat

Farm News Fires Cartoonist for Lampooning Ag Firm CEOs' Pay

April 27, 2016

Citizens Group Says Libel Suit from Landfill Company Meant To Silence

Money Woes Weaken Media's Ability To Defend 1st Amendment: Editors

Can House, Senate, Meld FOIA Bills In Politicized Election Year?

LEPCs, SERCs, Should Aid Journos Covering Chem Threats. Does Yours?

April 13, 2016

Do Arizona Journalists Have To Show Their Papers?

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