Who's behind the news?
Who's behind the news?
1.2.14
Newsjunkie.net is a resource guide for journalists. We show who's behind the news, and provide tools to help navigate the modern business of information.
Use of Data
The Guardian. Increased NIH budget cuts lead to research impossibilities
Senior officials at the NIH believe there is a “multi-pronged” attack being waged on scientific research. The United States and its universities used to be a research powerhouse, under the current Trump administration, that seems to be changing. Politically driven cuts to NIH funding, particularly in areas like cancer and HIV prevention, are decimating the U.S. scientific research infrastructure. Funding uncertainty, extremely low grant approval rates, and disrupted careers are leading scientists to warn that this disruption may be "impossible to rebuild." -acs
BBC. The US alters global human rights reports, leaving out vital pieces of information
The Trump administration has made big cuts to the US governments reports on global human rights abuses. This report is generally known to be the most comprehensive report of its kind, despite scaling back some reports on countries it favors as allies. Not only have big changes been made going forward, but “entire sections included in reports from previous years are also eliminated, dramatically reducing coverage of issues including government corruption and persecution of LGBTQ+ individuals.” -acs
Reynolds Journalism Institute. RJI is on a mission to reframe reports on drugs
Susan Stellin has been hard at work creating a guide for journalists who want to report on drugs in a “non-traditional” way. What is non-traditional? In this case, it means moving away from approaches based on the war on drugs, race, ethnicity, and drug stereotypes, and moving towards a health-based methodology. She hopes that those interested in similar progress in reporting will take a page out of her resource book. -acs
Harvard Medicine Magazine. Science was once seen as pinnacle of truth, now it falls to the wayside
Federal support for basic biomedical science in the U.S. originated during World War II, inspired by Vannevar Bush’s 1945 “The Endless Frontier” vision, which argued that government-backed basic research would drive technological and societal progress. This model paved the way for institutions like the NSF (founded in 1950) and an expanded NIH, enabling breakthroughs such as the Framingham Heart Study and the Human Genome Project, ultimately helping to save millions of lives. While Bush viewed “Basic research [as] the pacemaker of technological progress,” the current administration appears to be at odds with this belief, seeing research as the enemy of truth with mass takedowns of essential reports. -acs
Milwaukee Independent. US national climate reports are disappearing from federal websites
According to the Milwaukee Independent, websites for the national assessments and the U.S. Global Change Research Program were down as of June 30, with no links, notes, or referrals elsewhere. These legally mandated reports are essential for providing the public with vital information on climate change in their areas. The disappearance of this data, coupled with public denial of climate change from government officials, will create a dangerous society where citizens are unaware of shifts in their own neighborhoods until it is too late. -acs
The Environmental Data and Governance Initiative found that “in the first 100 days of the first Trump administration, there were 371 important changes made to websites, while in the same period this year there were 632 changes.” The report also found that climate change information has been altered or removed from federal websites, though less consistently than environmental justice and DEI sites. Data is being removed at an impressive rate, even with fewer volunteers monitoring the disappearing information, the change is stark. -acs
AP. Trump fires Erika McEntarfer, director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics
President Donald Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) after it released its third negative report on job growth statistics in the United States. The government agency's data contradicts the Trump's statements, as the job market is not on the rise. Erika McEntarfer, who was appointed by Biden, is being blamed for manipulating the numbers to negatively impact the Republican establishment and bring embarrassment to president and his cabinet. -acs
Brennan Center for Justice. Trump’s DOJ cuts $820 million in grants that effectively work to reduce crime in the US
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, in April 2025, Baltimore recorded its lowest monthly homicide rate, a 62% drop from the previous year, citing similar trends in other major cities. This is due to a new “all-of-the-above approach” to safety, which involves increased funding for programs alongside traditional law enforcement, such as community programs, youth organizations, and gun violence reduction initiatives. By cutting these grants, effective policy is being abandoned, and these reduced crime rates are at risk.-acs
US Department of Energy. Department of Energy brings public opinion to the front, asking for commentary on the impact of Greenhouse Gases
Last week, the U.S. Department of Energy released a new report evaluating existing peer-reviewed literature and government data on the climate impacts of greenhouse gas emissions. The department says that climate change is real; however, it is not the most important threat at the moment. In fact, the focus on it directly condemns the engineering feats that allowed humanity to flourish over the past two decades, and increased criticism of these systems is, perhaps, more damaging to progress than climate change itself. This comes alongside Lee Zeldin’s announcement that the EPA “doesn’t have the authority to regulate Greenhouse Gas Emissions” and that the agency would deregulate carbon emissions requirements for vehicles. -acs
PBS. Trump administration’s NIH budget cuts threaten Sickle Cell research, citing DEI
Since taking office in January, the Trump administration has cut more than $1 billion in NIH grants, gutting several research programs. One notable casualty: Sickle Cell research, which affects approximately 100,000 Americans, over 90% of them Black. -acs
Connecticut Public Radio. The EPA’s scientific research arm to be shuttered by Trump administration
A government sector that “provides expertise for environmental policies and regulations” is yet another victim of budget cuts from the new administration. This shutdown will cause unprecedented changes to the health of Americans and the environment around them, ultimately replacing real scientists with politicians, or with no one at all. -acs
The Duke Chronicle. Fulbright board members announce their resignation, citing accusations of the program's politicization by Trump
In a decision not taken lightly, eleven out of twelve members resigned from the Fulbright board last month. With history as a bipartisan organization, the board attempts to represent the whole of the United States, however, they claim the current administration’s actions are ‘“antithetical to the Fulbright mission and the values, including free speech and academic freedom, that Congress specified in the statute.”’ -acs
TheLogic. Internet Archive Canada preserves Canada's web history, and more
Internet Archive Canada may have launched back in 2006, but its importance really became evident shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump’s first election win in 2016. -gjw
WA State Nurses Assn. Health groups in Washington sue as the federal government deletes vital health data and resources
John Bramhall, MD, PhD, of the Washington State Medical Association warns “These executive-ordered website deletions were driven by ideology, not by science or evidence.” Urging medical professionals to recognize wiping of data as an attack on science, patients, and the medical system at large. -gjw
PBS. Ex-Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden talks getting fired by Trump and the legacy of scholarship
Former Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden first woman and first African-American to lead the National library, details her time at the LOC, citing struggles with the White House and the importance of libraries for all generations. -gjw
Brookings. Deleted US government data creates performance challenges in policy and research
Taxpayer-funded data has disappeared. Now "policymakers are trying to find ways to make sure that people still have access to that data," but there's a still long road ahead in the struggle for comprehensive information and methodology. -gjw
The Appeal. Trump DOJ Erases Trans People from Crime Data Surveys
The federal government will no longer collect data about the gender identity of people who experience violent crime or sexual misconduct. -gjw
IEEE Spectum. Saving public data: more than snapshots
Digital archivists combine efforts to preserve complex government sites. -gjw
Brown Daily Herald. Brown librarians, professors lead effort to archive government data under threat by Trump administration
Frank Donnelly, the head of geographic information systems and data services at the Brown University Library has been working to archive this data being lost to shutdowns. Donnelly said since Trump’s inauguration, “librarians (were) forming different groups across the country to make sure that we had backups of a lot of federal data sets.” -gjw
Forbes. USAID website is offline
USAID’s website, usaid.gov, displays a message stating the server cannot be reached as of March 22, 2025. -gjw
NPR. As Trump administration purges web pages, EOT rushes to save them
Radio interview and transcript. NPR’s Emma Bowman interviews Mark Graham and Brewster Kahle on the effort to save government websites and data.
NPR/KCBX. Reporter Emma Bowman’s article explains what’s at stake re EOT
Six weeks into the new administration, Internet Archive had cataloged some 73,000 web pages that had existed on U.S. government websites that were expunged after Trump's inauguration. The Internet Archive is currently the only place the public can find a copy of an interactive timeline detailing the events of Jan. 6, a product of the congressional committee that investigated the Capitol attack, and has since been taken down from their website.
New Yorker. Can guerrilla archivists save the country’s files from DOGE?
“This is how we know about our country,” social scientist Lynda Kellam told the New Yorker. “People who support the ‘drain the swamp’ mentality don’t seem to understand how much the government does.” Kellam described the vulnerable data as “irreplaceable.” - gjw
NYT. Vast quantities of climate and environmental information have been removed from official websites
Hundreds of volunteers, including EOT Harvest members Internet Archive and EDGI, are working to download government data recreate the digital tools that allow the public to access that information.
Trump has created a smoke-and-mirrors version of reality that counters the evidence, from taxpayer-funded government data, that could frustrate his ambitions. -gjw
Washington Post. Photos are disappearing, one archive at a time
[Indirectly related to the EOT effort] As photographers try to find homes for their work, traditional archives (hard copy photos, negatives, and slides) are also vanishing, especially in local journalism, where generations of photographers built shared visual records of community history. - gjw
Clean Technica. US Cultural Revolution: Bonfire of NASA, NOAA, EPA, CDC, & USDA Climate Programs
NASA, NOAA, NIH, National Science Foundation data and budgets slashed as if Mao's Cultural Revolution lives on. - acb
Columbia Journalism Review. Fighting the Great Federal Website Purge
By preserving such information, newsrooms are not only aiding themselves and other journalists, but are showing data archivists where to dig and supporting countless scientists whose work the current purge has devalued. - acb
AP. Judge tells agencies to restore webpages and data removed after Trump’s executive order
Removing important information from the CDC and FDA websites is delaying patient care, hampering research and hindering doctors’ ability to communicate with patients, the plaintiffs’ attorneys argued in a court filing. - acb
CivilRights.org. Why We Must Stop Trump’s Attempts to Erase Our Communities
These rollbacks do not merely threaten the integrity of scientific research — they undermine the fundamental goals of our federal statistical system to produce and share timely, relevant data while ensuring accuracy, credibility, objectivity, and confidentiality. Eliminating critical data allows for agencies to absolve themselves of accountability, obscures population-policy impacts, and worsens inequities. Without trusted data to make decisions, mistrust and disinformation can proliferate. - acb
GWU National Security Archive. Disappearing Data: Trump Administration Removing Climate Information from Government Websites
Community-led advocacy groups, archivists, and universities scramble to download climate resources and datasets. EPA, NOAA, and CEQ all targets of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. End of Term Web (EOT) Archive and Internet Archive's (IA) Wayback Machine crucial in preserving web data.download climate resources and datasets. EPA, NOAA, and CEQ all targets of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. End of Term Web (EOT) Archive and Internet Archive's (IA) Wayback Machine crucial in preserving web data. - acb
Internet Archive Blog. EOT Update: 500 terabytes of material, more than 100 million unique web pages preserved so far
Coverage includes websites in the .gov and .mil web domains, as well as government websites hosted on .org, .edu, and other top level domains.
As an added layer of preservation, the 2024/2025 EOT Web Archive will be uploaded to the Filecoin network for long-term storage. Separate from the EOT coalition, this is part of the Internet Archive’s Democracy’s Library project. -gjw
MIT Technology Review. Inside the race to archive the US govt websites
“I consider the actions of the current administration an assault on the entire scientific enterprise,” says Margaret Hedstrom, professor emerita of information at the University of Michigan. -gjw
CNN. What the White House takes down, Wayback Machine puts back up
A model of understatement: “the second Trump administration seems to have taken down more content than usual.” Cue the Wayback Machine. -gjw
Fierce Pharma. CDC’s ‘Wild to Mild’ flu vaccine campaign muzzled amid HHS handover
According to snapshots collected by the Internet Archive, at some point between Feb. 14 and Feb. 18, the Wild to Mild webpage was wiped of its information and resources. - gjw
The Verge. The mad dash to protect environmental data from Donald Trump
“Trump’s second term in office could pose a bigger risk to information about climate change and pollution on federal websites, advocates warn” - gjw
Freedom of the Press Foundation. Here’s how you can help save government data and research
President Donald Trump’s administration has been quick to purge information about “vaccines, veterans’ care, hate crimes and scientific research, among many other topics” from thousands of federal government websites. - gjw
Harvard-Shorenstein Center. Researchers rush to save federal health databases disappearing from government websites
Researchers and students at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health have been scraping and downloading data related to health equity from U.S. government agency websites before they disappear. Their goal is to make the data publicly available through repositories such as the Harvard Dataverse and the Wayback Machine.
Nat’l Security Archive. Trump kills climate science information
Advocacy groups, archivists, and universities scramble to download climate resources and datasets; EPA, NOAA, and CEQ all targets of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. End of Term Web Archive and Internet Archive's Wayback Machine crucial in preserving web data. -gjw
CNN. Scientists fear Trump will erase public research
NYT. Could Trump’s return pose a threat to climate and weather data?
Breaking News I E. What’s in a name? Trump set to wipe government language
Fast Company. The Internet Archive is even more essential than I realized
Forbes. Safeguarding against a Trump data dump
Verge. How scientists scrambled to stop Donald Trump’s EPA from wiping out climate data — the birth of EDGI
Research Information. Public access to published science “under threat in the US”
AIP. White House Issues New Security Rules for Government-Funded Research
Union of Concerned Scientists. Protecting Government Science from Political Interference
Brennan Center for Justice. Five Cases of Political Threats Against Scientific Integrity
Edited by Alex Smythe, Jenny Young, Damon Gitelman, AC Blaisdell, and Gordon Whiting