> Check this out, folks.
Bernie
> From: SEJNews <>
> Date: October 17, 2007 3:08:58 PM PDT
> To:
> Cc:
> Subject: SEJ-TIPSHEET: WATCHDOG EDITION of 17 OCTOBER 2007
> Reply-To:
>
> TIPSHEET WATCHDOG EDITION
> 17 OCTOBER 2007
>
> This biweekly WatchDog edition of TipSheet focuses on First Amendment
> issues of concern to environmental journalists. You can find a fuller
> version of most articles, frequent updates, and other tools and
> information on the Web site of the Society of Environmental
> Journalists.
>
> TipSheet WatchDog Edition is produced by the SEJ as an ongoing
> activity
> of its First Amendment Task Force <http://www.sej.org/foia/
> index6.htm>,
> and distributed through the TipSheet partnership between SEJ and the
> Radio & Television News Directors Foundation. The contents of TipSheet
> WatchDog are posted to the FOI area of the SEJ Web site at
> <http://www.sej.org/foia/index7.htm>.
>
> ***************************************************************
> IN THIS ISSUE...
> ***************************************************************
>
> -- Interior Proposes Photo Fee Rule
> -- House Passes Shield Law 398-21; White House Threatens Veto
> -- Veterans' Hospitals Won't Share Cancer Data
> -- Toledo Blade Covers Nuclear Cover-Up Trial
> -- Judge Denies Media Access to MSHA Probe of Crandall Canyon
> -- Minnesota Scientist Finally Gives Atrazine Testimony
>
> ***************************************************************
> FULL VERSIONS of all the WatchDog stories are posted at
> <http://www.sej.org/foia/index7.htm.
>
> ***************************************************************
> INTERIOR PROPOSES FEE/PERMIT RULE FOR FILMING IN PARKS, REFUGES
>
> The Interior Department has proposed codifying its rules on
> photography, filming, and sound-recording on public lands it
> administers -- rules which some newsgatherers complain badly cramps
> their ability to do their jobs.
>
> The deadline for public comments on the proposed rule is Friday, Oct.
> 19, 2007. The Society of Environmental Journalists and other groups
> expect to file comments urging Interior to ease restrictions on
> newsgathering.
>
> The Interior proposal is not a drastic shift in policy -- but it would
> make filming policy more consistent across some of Interior's major
> component agencies: the National Park Service, the Fish & Wildlife
> Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. It is not clear that it
> would regularize policy across various Park System units, which now
> vary widely in how they apply the policy.
>
> The proposal would decide several key issues in ways that restrict
> journalists:
>
> -- Is documentary a form of news? The proposal allows agencies to say
> "no."
> -- Are freelancers representatives of the news media? Agencies can say
> "no."
> -- Are independent producers and production companies news media?
> Again: "no."
> -- Can public radio reporters interview park staff or record wolf
> calls? The rule allows parks to require a permit, even though the law
> gives it no authority to do so.
> -- Do still photographers with handheld cameras need permits? The rule
> allows a park service employee to deny permission to photograph if
> he/she feels the photography is "inappropriate."
>
> While Interior's proposal continues the agency's current policy of
> exempting "news coverage" from permit requirements, it also allows a
> very narrow definition of "news." Current policy exempts only
> "breaking" or "spot" news (such as a wildfire or presidential
> photo-ops) from permit requirements. One park (Yellowstone) defines
> news as "an event that cannot be covered at any other time or
> location." That could exclude coverage of grizzly bear conflicts,
> snowmobile policy decisions, bioprospecting, budget and maintenance
> debates, and traffic jams.
>
> -- "Proposed Rule: Making Motion Pictures, Television Productions,
> Soundtracks or Taking Still Photographs on Certain Areas Under the
> Jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior," Department of the
> Interior, Federal Register, August 20, 2007, pp. 46426-46432
> <http://www.sej.org/go/071017-1.htm>.
>
> -- You can comment on the proposal from your computer at the online
> federal rulemaking portal:
> <http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main>. The docket ID
> is DOI-2007-0035 <http://www.sej.org/go/071017-2.htm>.
>
> **********************************************************
> HOUSE PASSES SHIELD LAW 398-21; WHITE HOUSE THREATENS VETO
>
> The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Oct. 16, 2007, to
> create a federal
> shield law which would offer limited protection for reporters from
> being compelled to
> disclose confidential sources.
>
> Shortly before passage, the White House threatened to veto the bill
> (HR 2102). It passed by an astonishing 398-21 margin, with Republicans
> abandoning the White House position in droves after the House added an
> amendment addressing some national security concerns. If that margin
> held, it would be more than enough to override a veto. A 2/3 vote is
> needed to override.
>
> Attention now shifts to the Senate, where a similar bill is awaiting
> floor action.
>
> The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill (S 2035) by a 15-4
> vote. The relative weakness of GOP opposition there suggests that
> getting it to the floor may be quite feasible. It is easier to block
> floor consideration of a bill in the Senate than in the House, since
> 60 votes are needed to cut off debate (cloture) and bring a bill to a
> vote.
>
> -- Extensive Background at the Web site of the Coalition of
> Journalists for Open Government: <http://www.cjog.net/>.
>
> *******************************************
> VETERANS' HOSPITALS WON'T SHARE CANCER DATA
>
> Cancer registries have been part of the public health system in the
> U.S. since before World War II. They serve many purposes: not only do
> they aid the collection of statistics so that physicians can gauge how
> the battle against cancer is going, but they can help pinpoint "cancer
> clusters" that may be caused by environmental factors.
>
> Virtually every state in the U.S. has a registry of cancer cases,
> under a national surveillance system run by the Centers for Disease
> Control and Prevention (CDC). This system has been dealing -- for the
> most part successfully -- with patient privacy issues for decades.
> Cancer registries often share medical data while restricting access to
> information about patient identity.
>
> Now the hospitals in the federal Veterans Affairs (VA) system are
> saying they will not share cancer data with state registries unless
> the states sign restrictive agreements. The VA says it is protecting
> patient privacy. For now, the VA seems to have the upper hand, since
> states can not force a federal institution to obey state law,
> according to an Oct. 10 story in the New York Times.
>
> ******************************************************
> TOLEDO BLADE COVERS DAVIS-BESSE NUCLEAR COVER-UP TRIAL
>
> A federal jury in Toledo may soon be deciding whether some company
> officials engaged in a cover-up of safety problems at the Davis-Besse
> nuclear power plant.
>
> Although the story has gotten little national attention, the Toledo
> Blade's Tom Henry has covered the trial in detail.
>
> The latest of Henry's stories in the Blade (Oct. 13) is at
> <http://www.sej.org/go/071017-3.htm> and you will find links to most
> previous stories there. You can also find them in the Web edition of
> the WatchDog at <http://www.sej.org/foia/index7.htm>.
>
> **********************************************************
> JUDGE DENIES MEDIA ACCESS TO MSHA PROBE OF CRANDALL CANYON
>
> Federal district judge Dee Benson ruled Oct. 9, 2007, that a group of
> news media companies could not have access to an investigation by the
> Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) into the Crandall Canyon
> mine collapse in Utah Aug. 6, which killed six miners and three
> workers trying to rescue them.
>
> While MSHA is investigating factors that led to the accident, MSHA
> itself has been criticized for decisions that may have led to the
> collapse.
>
> A group of media companies went to court seeking to attend
> investigatory proceeding being held by MSHA. The companies included
> the Associated Press, CNN and The Salt Lake Tribune.
>
> ************************************************************
> SCIENTIST FINALLY GIVES ATRAZINE TESTIMONY HE WAS FIRED OVER
>
> A scientist who was fired shortly after he asked permission to testify
> before the Minnesota legislature on Atrazine pollution of water
> finally had his say.
>
> "Paul Wotzka is a hydrologist who logged 16 years monitoring water
> quality for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture before moving to
> the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency last year," reports KARE-11 in
> Minneapolis-St. Paul. "On March 20th Wotzka took a call from
> Representative Ken Tschumper, a dairy farmer who advocates banning
> Atrazine from use in Minnesota."
>
> Tschumper had read an article that quoted Wotzka saying Atrazine
> levels were up in Minnesota trout streams. Wotzka sent a request to
> his bosses asking permission to testify. They denied the request, and
> two weeks later fired him. Wotzka has now filed a whistleblower
> lawsuit.
>
> The MPCA did not manage to silence Wotzka, though. State Sen. John
> Marty (D) invited him to testify Oct. 10 at a hearing on Atrazine and
> scientific integrity.
>
> *******************************************************
> FULL VERSIONS of all the WatchDog stories are posted at
> <http://www.sej.org/foia/index7.htm.
>
> *******************************
> Next WatchDog: October 31, 2007
>
> Journalists: Please tell your colleagues about TipSheet and TipSheet
> WatchDog Edition. For free subscription send name and full contact
> information to <>. Have a tip? Comments? Contact Joseph A.
> Davis, editor, at 301-656-2261, <>. WatchDog team
> includes
> Ken Ward, Jr., SEJ 1st Amendment Task Force Chair; Robert McClure, SEJ
> Board/Task Force Liaison; Vince Patton, Adviser; Beth Parke, SEJ
> Executive Director; Cindy MacDonald, Web Associate; and you.
>
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