Report: NIH Officials Suppressed News about Fetal Tissue Cells

Last year under the Trump Administration, National Institutes of Health officials decided not to help publicize federally funded research that used fetal tissue cells, “calling it a political landmine,” according to a report in BuzzFeed News.

The news outlet had obtained emails among officials discussing the decision.

According to BuzzFeed, NIH representatives did not respond to requests for comment on the emails.

The article cited my discussion that agencies ban contact between staff and reporters without oversight and push out what they think is news: "Suppression of press alerts for political reasons is an illustration of what unconscionable conflict of interest runs through it all."

Report: Philadelphia School District Considering Forbidding 20,000 Staff from Talking to Media without Sign Off

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer,  the Philadelphia School District "is mulling a policy that would forbid any of its 20,000 employees from talking to the media unless staff from its central office signs off.”

The district spokesperson is quoted as saying this kind of policy is, “standard operating procedure for organizations everywhere.”

The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president is quoted as saying it’s authoritarian.

Yale Law School Conference Hears: No Documented Case Has Upheld "No Interviews Policy"

At the Yale Law School Access and Accountability Conference last month, Frank LoMonte, director of the Brechner Center on Freedom of Information, said that, “There is no documented case in which a government agency has successfully defended a ‘no interviews’ policy,” controlling employees speaking to the press.

And yet, he said, the policies persist and are pervasive.

I said the current cultural trend supporting these policies is catastrophic. The videos of the conference, including the “Fighting Censorship by PIO” session (number 5) are here. The agenda is here and the background papers are here.