What does it take to be a whistleblower?

Stephen M. Kohn was featured in the radio documentary, “Blowing the Whistle, Paying the Price.” This documentary is about an old fashioned whistleblower, Felix Smith, a former US Department of Fish & Wildlife biologist. Smith blew the whistle on selenium poisoning at Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge in 1982. Kohn described the early 1980’s as the “Wild West of whistleblowing” as none of the laws that protect today’s whistleblowers existed.

Kohn discussed what it takes to be a whistleblower. First, when your boss asks an employee to do something morally questionable, “A whistleblower is a person that steps back and thinks…is there something wrong with this instruction?” Kohn said. The next thing that determines if someone is a whistleblower, according to Kohn, is what he or she does “when the boss tells you to shut up and mind your own business.”

Smith went to environmental reporter Lloyd Carter despite being told by his supervisor to throw away his report and forget it ever existed.

Reporter Kerry Klein revisits the Kesterson tragedy, interviewing Smith, Carter and others that worked together to make sure Kesterson’s Reservoir was closed and sealed from further use to protect migratory birds along the Pacific Flyway and the public’s health.