Information is power – but it comes at a cost

While newsroom budgets are shrinking -- and some news outlets are going out of business entirely -- the need for thorough, objective investigative journalism remains as crucial as ever.

Fortunately, there are organizations like FairWarning. This online nonprofit publication delivers robust, public interest journalism on issues of health, safety and corporate conduct in spite of funding challenges.

Why should occupational safety and health professionals care about the work of FairWarning?

Because information really is power.

“Our mission is to arm consumers and workers with valuable information and to spotlight reckless business practices and lax oversight by government agencies,” according to a statement by FairWarning, which uses a wide sweep of judicial opinions, legal and regulatory news and reports from think tanks, advocacy groups and academic and professional journals in its investigations.

The group rightly notes that “few news outlets gave priority to health and safety investigations — despite the potential to save readers and audiences from devastating injury or death. In today’s hollowed out newsrooms, even fewer reporters have the resources to tackle these complex and time-intensive stories.”

FairWarning’s staff of veteran reporters provides coverage of these issues as a non-partisan, non-ideological public service. Their reports are distributed through news outlets across the country, including ISHN, and we are happy to be able to use them to keep our readers informed about issues which are important to them.

At a time of year when people might be considering writing checks to support vital causes and nonprofit groups, FairWarning is reminding readers that it relies on support from individual donors in order to do its work. Deductions to this nonprofit (501 c3) organization are tax deductible.

For more information, visit www.FairWarning.org.