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From W.N.Y.C. in New York, this is NPR's On the Media. I'm Bob Garfield. And I'm

Brooke Gladstone. Terry Michael Helms is why I'm here today.

I hope that being here today and tomorrow I can have several questions answered. This week,

the Mine Safety and Health Administration and the state of West Virginia held public hearings on the

Sego Mine disaster that gripped the nation in January,

when 12 of 13 men died after first having been reported alive. The risks inherent in the practice of

mining rarely ever gripped the nation until something goes horribly wrong. In fact, when it does,

many people ask, are there still mines?

Ellen Smith runs the newsletter, Mine Safety and Health News. She says mining actually is on the rise,

even as the federal government increasingly restricts access to information about mine safety.

In the case of Sago, Smith says the response from the mine safety and health

administration, or Emsha, hit a new low. I call it the FEMA of mine disaster press relations.

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