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

June 17, 2015

New Congressional Research Service Reports for Environmental Journos

Congress, you may remember, has exempted itself from the requirements for open government — and that included a ban on publishing taxpayer-funded explainers by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). Thanks to the Federation of American Scientists, you can read them anyway.

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Group Wins Suit To Disclose Fracking in Gulf of Mexico

The Center for Biological Diversity filed a Freedom of Information Act request for documents on offshore Gulf fracking, and was refused by two Interior Department offshore drilling agencies, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. CBD sued, and the lawsuit was settled June 2, 2015.

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Journalist Booted from Denial-Palooza for "Advocacy"

Not all journalists were welcome at the Heartland Institute's annual conference messaging doubt about climate change June 11, 2015. Brendan Montague, editor of DeSmog UK, was denied a press pass for the event and escorted from the meeting site by hotel security.

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June 3, 2015

Did EPA Press Office Retaliate for Unfavorable NY Times Article?

It appears to an outside observer that NYT reporter Coral Davenport was uninvited to EPA's "Waters of the U.S." (WOTUS) rule announcement phone call as retaliation for an unfavorable story she had written about the agency's public affairs operation the week before. EPA says not.

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Obama Administration Flunks Test at House FOIAPalooza

Journalists, think tanks, and advocacy groups all gave low marks to the Obama administration's performance under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) at a House hearing June 2 and 3, 2015. Some GOP members used the occasion to score partisan points; see the video and document archives.

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E-Beat Explainers: For Congress' Eyes Only

The Congressional Research Service, a taxpayer-funded agency, produces a steady stream of fact-filled and objective background reports on many issues of interest to environment and energy reporters but refuses to share them with the public. But there are other ways to access them...

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SPJ, SEJ Seek Meet with White House Spox on Minders, Permissions

The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) and SEJ sent a letter to Josh Earnest (pictured), White House Press Secretary, May 29, 2015, asking for a meeting to discuss restrictions that infringe on journalists' abilities to report on the federal government. The letter follows up on earlier pleas from some 38 journalism groups to the White House for more openness.

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May 20, 2015

What You're Not Supposed To Know About Secret Environmental Treaty

The public is not allowed to know the terms of the draft Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact likely to come up for a Senate vote this year. Yet the Senate has already begun voting on terms for considering the treaty, which may allow other nations to override U.S. health, safety, and environmental protection laws. Fortunately, WikiLeaks has already published a leaked version of the environmental chapter of the TPP treaty.

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Do Firefighters Have a Right To Know About Hazmats They Face? Do You?

The watchdog group Center for Effective Government offers data tools that partly offset government failures to protect people from dangerous materials that poison or injure people, burn, or explode. They are also tools for journalists trying to inform their communities.

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Is Wyoming Ban on Reporting Environmental Harm Unconstitutional?

A newly enacted Wyoming law seems to be aimed at criminalizing the collection and reporting of stream pollution or other environmental harm. It creates a unique new category of crime called "data trespass." Just what the law, signed in March by Gov. Matt Mead (R), means or does is being debated hotly.

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