November 15, 2018 9:59 AM EDT
The midterms brought checks and balances to Washington, complete with new opportunities for accountability and oversight, and some members of Congress have already signaled that science will be on the agenda. Today, a diverse set of environmental, public health, and good government organizations released a report outlining what Congress can do to address recent actions that sideline science from policymaking. Read more >
June 22, 2018 2:26 PM EDT
Yesterday, the Los Angeles Times broke the story about the new policy at the U.S. Geological Survey requiring scientists to get permission before speaking to reporters about science. In an attempt to justify the muzzling, a department spokesperson said they were just following an Obama-era communications policy (sound familiar?). After reporters linked to the policy, it was removed from its previous location and buried deep in the DOI website. You can find it there as a Word document; I’ve made a PDF available here. Read more >
November 13, 2015 3:44 PM EDT
Earlier this year, I looked at the social media policies of 17 federal agencies and departments with science in their missions. All but one of those agencies had a social media policy in place. So we asked the lone agency—the Food and Drug Administration—to produce the social media policy it claimed it was working on. This week the agency released that policy. And it’s not just any policy, it’s a strong one. Read more >
August 4, 2015 12:55 PM EDT
Transparency invigorates a strong democracy. It inspires trust and spurs citizens to hold their leaders accountable. As citizens, we have the right to know about the scientific information shaping the policies that affect our health, our safety, and the environment, and our government has a responsibility to share this information openly. Read more >
April 9, 2015 12:11 PM EDT
Earlier this year, the Center for Science and Democracy published a report on media policies at 17 federal agencies. More than four years after the Obama administration had issued a directive ordering reform of federal scientific integrity policies—including those governing media access—we found evidence that public communications are too often censored, constrained, or funneled through agency media offices. Read more >
