Federal officials at the US Geological Survey instituted a “media blackout” in the waning days of Joe Biden’s presidency amid President Donald Trump’s calls for the Gulf of Mexico to be renamed to the Gulf of America, ignoring any and all media requests, Notus reported Tuesday.
“I don’t mean (to respond to media requests with) ‘...has no comment at this time…,’ I mean do not respond at all,” wrote Michael Tischler, director of USGS’s National Geospatial Program, which produces and maintains topographic maps.
He was relaying to staff that the agency’s communications office had instructed all employees “to not respond” to media requests.
Tischler’s communications were obtained by Notus via a Freedom of Information Act request, as were close to 150 pages of internal agency emails and records, many of which reveal the panic at the agency amid Trump’s pledge to rename the Gulf.
“I can’t stay on top of this AND do my day job,” wrote Matthew O’Donnell, Board of Geographic Names researcher, in an email to Tischler and another USGS leader.
“Where’s that ‘it has begun’ meme from Lord of the Rings...?” wrote another USGS employee on Jan. 7, referring to their fear of an impending swath of media requests.
Before he took office for his second time on Jan. 20, Trump pledged to rename the Gulf in an effort to recognize its “critical importance to our nation’s economy,” and signed an executive order on his first day in office to direct the USGS to rename the body of water.
The USGS’s preemptive media blackout, however, constituted “unacceptable” behavior for a taxpayer-funded government agency, argued Caroliine Hendrie, executive director of the Society of Professional Journalists, the nation’s oldest organization representing journalists with around 300 chapters across the country.
“It’s unacceptable for public officials, particularly those in communications roles funded by taxpayers, to adopt a deliberate strategy of ignoring journalists’ requests,” Hendrie said, Notus reported.
“It sends a message across government that transparency is optional, and that’s corrosive for press freedom and the public’s right to know. Agencies need to put public interest over political convenience. The public has a right to know about government decision-making that affects shared resources and shared identity, like place names.”