The Journal of the American Medical Association is requiring that anyone who complains to its editors about conflict of interest violations at the publication must remain silent publicly while they investigate the complaint. "The new policy is the result of a public spat with Jonathan Leo, a professor of neuro-anatomy at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn.," explains the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

"Since the financial crisis began, the corporate and philanthropic foundations and donors who gird most think tanks have become stingier about their grants," reports David Weigel. He notes that the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a conservative think tank that was one of the most prominent cheerleaders for the Bush administration's policies, has had to cut back on projects and staff.

After pleading guilty to counts of perjury and three of disclosing a confidential hearing, the former media director for Australia's Victoria Police, Stephen Linnell, has been fined $A5,000 and sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years. Linnell, a former journalist, became a friend of the then-assistant commissioner, Noel Ashby, after being appointed media director in 2003. In May 2007, Ashby was a suspect in an investigation by the Office of Police Integrity (OPI) into the leaking of confidential information.