NAVIGATION MAIN MENU

COMPENDIUM LIBRARY/TWITTER MONITOR
VIDEO GALLERY
Economic News
Newsbrief Archives
Democrat Leadership Twitter and Realtime Feeds
Cabinet twitter and realtime feeds
North America weblog
International weblog
Democrats twitter directory
Latest Government Jobs and Public Tenders
Jobs Matrix
Global Travel Information
Pop Entertainment Forum
Start Portal


Please make a donation to support upkeep of the daily news journal, back archives, twitter feeds and the compendium library.










New Service Policy Ensures Integrity of Public Communication

Daily newsbrief journal for June 2012, also see http://www.usdemocrats.com/brief for a global 100-page perpetual brief and follow twitter @usdemocrats


New Service Policy Ensures Integrity of Public Communication

Postby admin » Fri Jun 29, 2012 9:58 pm

New Service Policy Ensures Integrity of Public Communications,
Protects Right of Employees to Speak About their Work

For the first time in more than two decades, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service has comprehensively updated its media policy to reflect the
agency’s commitment to transparency and the communication of accurate
scientific, technical and wildlife management information. The policy
strengthens and protects both the integrity of public information
disseminated by the Service and the right of employees to express their
personal opinions about the work of the agency.

Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe, who as the Service Science
Advisor led the agency’s push to develop scientific integrity policies,
said the revised media policy represents another step in the Service’s
effort to foster a culture of open inquiry and debate.

“We can’t accomplish our wildlife conservation mission without the support
and engagement of the public and our partners. That support in turn rests
on people’s ability to trust the accuracy and integrity of our public
communications,” said Ashe. “This new policy establishes our expectations
for open and ethical communications, and ensures that our communications
professionals, scientists and other employees understand the rights and
responsibilities it conveys.”

The new Service policy is consistent with the Department of the Interior’s
revised policy, which was finalized in the spring. The Service policy,
contained in three chapters that have been integrated into the Service
Manual, clearly defines the circumstances under which employees may speak
on behalf of the agency in an official capacity, and establishes policies
and procedures for the review and approval of official agency
communications to ensure accuracy and consistency.

The Service has taken past action to protect the integrity of the agency’s
scientific and technical information, establishing a policy on scientific
integrity to ensure that scientific, scholarly and technical articles and
reports produced as a result of official activities submitted to or
published in peer-reviewed publications are not subject to agency review.
The new media policy does not alter or affect these measures. But it does
expand on them by requiring agency communications to contain accurate
scientific and technical information that has been reviewed by appropriate
Service scientific and technical experts prior to distribution. It also
restates the right of scientific and technical experts to speak about
their work, and to review agency communications describing that work prior
to dissemination.

The policy makes other changes designed to support the integrity of
Service communications. For example, sections of the policy restate and
expand prohibitions on using agency funding for publicity, and require all
print and audiovisual products produced with Service funds to clearly
disclose the agency’s sponsorship.

A specific chapter of the Service Manual codifies the right of employees
to speak about their work and the work of the Service in a personal
capacity, as long as they make it clear that their opinions may not
necessarily reflect those of the agency.

While the policy protects the right of employees to express their personal
opinions, it does not permit the disclosure of information that is exempt
from disclosure under the Privacy Act and the Freedom of Information Act
or as otherwise restricted by statute, regulation, Executive Order, or
other Executive Branch or Departmental policies or directives. Examples of
such information include classified or procurement sensitive information,
and information subject to privilege, including deliberative,
pre-decisional information or attorney-client communications.

The revised policy is contained in three manual chapters in the
Information and Communications Series: Part 115, Chapter 1: Official
Public Communications – General Policy and Procedures; Part 115, Chapter
2: Other Public Communications; and Part 115, Chapter 3: Approval for
Communications and Outreach Positions. To view these chapters, and for
additional information, visit http://www.fws.gov/policy/manuals/.

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others
to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their
habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a
leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for
our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources,
dedicated professionals, and commitment to public service. Connect with
our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/usfws, follow our tweets at
www.twitter.com/usfwshq, watch our YouTube Channel at
http://www.youtube.com/usfws and download photos from our Flickr page at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwshq.


-FWS-
admin
Site Admin
 
Posts: 82092
Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2009 7:00 am

Return to June 2012

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests