Monday, November 18, 2019

Science Writers "Dismayed" at Committee Stripping Free Speech Provision from Bill

On November 15 the National Association of Science Writers told the U.S. Congress that, “many, if not most, agencies now require their scientists to get approval before speaking to reporters,” and in many instances agencies prohibit them from talking to reporters at all.

NASW said it was dismayed that language that would have given scientists’ the right to speak to the press was stripped out of the Scientific Integrity Act bill on October 17 in the mark-up by House Science, Space and Technology Committee.

The NASW letter comes after a letter from 28 journalism and other groups went to Congress with much the same message on November 7.

NASW, which has both journalists and public information officers among its members, said, “Federal agencies’ policies and practices that block the dissemination of scientific information are at odds with widely recognized norms of journalism.”

The association noted that the U.S. government employs one of the most powerful and accomplished scientific work forces in history, with tens of thousands of publicly funded scientists working in more than 20 agencies.

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