National Freedom of Information Coalition
Protecting Your Right to Open Government

Author: NFOIC

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Journalists Fight for Open Government in The Face Of Secrecy

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Transparency is inconvenient. It’s inconvenient for the reporter who’s trying to report the news and it’s inconvenient for the government that attempts to hide information.

“It is not unique for federal officials to go to great lengths to get around having to turn over documents or respond,” Sharyl Attkisson said during a keynote address last week at the University of Florida’s public information conference, “Breaking Down Walls: The Fight for Open Government.”

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FEDERAL GOVERNMENT INCREASINGLY SLOWING, DENYING RELEASE OF DOCUMENTS

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The president who came to office claiming he would have the most open and transparent presidency in history is now denying or slowing Freedom of Information Act requests for documents at an unprecedented rate.

In 1966, Congress passed the Freedom of Information Act, a law giving the public and journalists access to government documents in an effort to bring more transparency to our government. It is this law that Obama’s federal government is increasingly circumventing.

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Microsoft promises Office 365 update for open document format

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Microsoft will issue an update to Office 365 to enhance support for the Open Document Format (ODF) championed by the government, allowing users to export files as ODF regardless of the format they were created in.

In a Microsoft blog post, Jesse Stanchak, Microsoft's community manager, revealed the update will arrive later this year having worked with the Government Digital Service (GDS) to understand its requirements.

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Court Rules Virginia Town Violated Open Government Laws

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The Sussex County Circuit Court Judge told the Waverly Town Council that they couldn’t meet this week because the mayor and town clerk had knowingly violated the state’s Freedom of Information Act and failed to comply with a provision of the state’s Open Meetings Law.

Taylor Everett, a resident who had repeatedly asked the town to produce public documents and notify him of upcoming meetings, brought the legal challenge against the town.

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Regulators fret over FOIA reform bill

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Financial regulators and the banking industry are raising concerns about bipartisan legislation that would expand the public's access to government documents, according to lawmakers.

Members of Congress have sought to clarify that their proposals to update the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) would not erode protections that prevent the public from obtaining sensitive banking information that regulators see as part of their supervision of the financial sector.

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Information from Virginia criminal investigations largely exempt from FOIA

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At the request of the governor and prosecutors, the Virginia State Police are investigating the arrest of University of Virginia student Martese Johnson by Alcoholic Beverage Control agents, but it’s unlikely the public will have access to much of the investigation.

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Bill to allow new public records fees pulled from Tennessee House

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House Bill 315 and its companion in the Senate is a top legislative priority for the Tennessee School Boards Association. Before pulling the bill, McDaniel kept the idea of new public records fees alive by saying the Office of Open Records Counsel has agreed to conduct public hearings in conjunction with the Advisory Committee on Open Government this summer on the proposal, and make a recommendation on the bill by January 2016.

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