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

November 4, 2009

Senators, J-Groups, White House Agree on Shield Law Provisions

Federal legislation to protect reporters from having to reveal confidential sources may be back on track. A markup in the Senate Judiciary Committee, possibly November 5, 2009, could tell.

VIEW ARTICLE
Health Care Journalists Seek End to Press Office Restrictions at FDA

The Association of Health Care Journalists and other journalism groups have co-signed a letter to the Food and Drug Administration's Transparency Task Force, calling for FDA to "end these harmful practices and restore the free flow of information."

VIEW ARTICLE
IG Finds Former NRC Commissioner Hid Ethics Violations

The Project on Government Oversight used FOIA to get reports and documents from an NRC Inspector General's investigation of Jeffrey Merrifield.

VIEW ARTICLE
At Los Alamos, Secrecy Is the Opposite of Safety

The U.S. Department of Energy scrambles to delay a report by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board about a significant threat of radiation release from Los Alamos National Laboratory, a citizen watchdog group discovered.

VIEW ARTICLE
EPA To Discontinue Federal Register Listserves

Prior to November 1, 2009, EPA had 13 different lists for Federal Register notices. The information is still available to reporters and the public via other channels.

VIEW ARTICLE
Federal FOIA Mediator Launches Web Site

The Office of Government Information Services, created by Congress in 2008 to serve as an overseer of federal FOIA activities and help mediate disputes between information requesters and federal agencies, offers a resource page with useful government and NGO links.

VIEW ARTICLE

October 21, 2009

EPA Releases Bush-Suppressed Endangerment Finding

Persistence pays off for Greenwire reporter Darren Samuelsohn who filed his first Freedom of Information Act request for it back in July 2008, re-filed it in January 2009 at the start of the Obama administration, and finally received it October 13, 2009.

VIEW ARTICLE
Advisory Arrives Hours After Vilsack Presser

You know you are not on the A-list when the press advisory is sent to you after the press conference takes place, as one SEJ member experienced on October 16, 2009.

VIEW ARTICLE
EPA Uses Online Forum To Address TRI Mining Changes

EPA seems to be making efforts to use social media to improve public participation in its decisions, says the watchdog group OMB Watch, citing the TRI forum as one example of several.

VIEW ARTICLE
US, Canada, Mexico Aim To Coordinate Toxics Databases

The North American Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (NAPRTR) Consultative Group, under the auspices of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, will meet November 10-11, 2009, in Guadalajara, Mexico to review the programs of the 3 countries.

VIEW ARTICLE

The SEJ WatchDog Alert

Latest WatchDog Alert Items

November 4, 2009

Senators, J-Groups, White House Agree on Shield Law Provisions

Health Care Journalists Seek End to Press Office Restrictions at FDA

IG Finds Former NRC Commissioner Hid Ethics Violations

At Los Alamos, Secrecy Is the Opposite of Safety

EPA To Discontinue Federal Register Listserves

Federal FOIA Mediator Launches Web Site

October 21, 2009

EPA Releases Bush-Suppressed Endangerment Finding

Advisory Arrives Hours After Vilsack Presser

EPA Uses Online Forum To Address TRI Mining Changes

US, Canada, Mexico Aim To Coordinate Toxics Databases

Pages

Search Publications

Browse Publications

Subscriptions