'Unprecedented and a mess': Sweeping new rules restrict nearly all aspects of national park communications

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

https://www.sfgate.com/national-parks/article/national-parks-sweeping-changes-21345348.php


'It's getting more f—ked up every day'


The Trump administration has introduced a “media reporting tool” that will vet every new National Park Service exhibit and sign to verify that the content celebrates America. The tool will “ensure that all public-facing content focuses on ‘the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people or, with respect to natural features, the beauty, abundance, and grandeur of the American landscape,’” a Feb. 4 update to an internal communications platform reads.

SFGATE emailed the agency asking how the tool would work, and whether people or artificial intelligence would perform the evaluations of the content. Katie Martin, the Department of the Interior’s communications director, did not answer the question.

The Park Service debuted the digital tool in step with other recent actions across the national park system complying with Executive Order 14253, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” They include removing materials describing atrocities committed against Native Americans, dismantling exhibits highlighting the treatment of enslaved people, and deleting information on how climate change is negatively impacting ecosystems and landscapes.



The approval process for new interpretative media projects and public-facing content isn’t all that’s shifted. In December, the administration began delivering sweeping new guidance to the Park Service on communicating with the media, interacting with the public, posting on official social media accounts and updating park webpages. Who has the authority to do these things, and under what circumstances, has narrowed dramatically from past practice.

[Blues Heron]

1. Impeach and remove this sick totalitarian creep