The report from the Knight Commission on Trust, Media and Democracy, explores the disconnect between the public, the press and our public institutions, notably government. The report concludes we are in a watershed moment and must make reforms in our media and civic infrastructure. The report advances a series of recommendations aimed at the news media, civic educators and […]
Issues and trends in state open government, public records and press freedom discussed The National Freedom of Information Coalition concluded its 2019 FOI Summit in Dallas recently. The annual two-day conference features presentations from open government experts […]
Read More… from Growing diversity of issues and advocates showcase 2019 FOI Summit
For years, Colorado law enforcement agencies have routinely ignored or denied requests for internal investigations records involving alleged officer misconduct. Mesa County is no exception. Back in 2014, then-Sheriff Rebecca Spiess denied the Sentinel’s request for access to internal affairs records of two candidates for county sheriff who had worked or were working in the […]
Read More… from Editorial: Internal police probes now open to the public
In 2010, two University of California, Santa Cruz researchers found themselves in an unexpected situation. Part of a team studying the impacts of lead poisoning on the endangered California condor, they received a request for emails exchanged between members of their research group over a roughly five-year period. Specifically, the California Rifle and Pistol Association […]
Read More… from California is fighting over the future of freedom of information laws
Whether it’s addressing your city council, doing genealogical research at a courthouse or wanting to know how much your local school superintendent makes a year, the common element is access to public information. Not only do newspaper reporters routinely seek this knowledge, but so do citizens wishing to be better informed. The recent annual meeting […]
Read More… from Editorial: Open government requires transparency
The release of the Mueller report this past week has brought with it renewed interest in the practice of “redaction” in which the government blacks out portions of officially released documents to preserve confidential information. The topic has received more media attention on television in the past week than it has in the past decade, while globally […]
Read More… from Big Data Can Help Us See Through Government Redactions
The administration of Gov. Matt Bevin “willfully” withheld public records about sexual harassment and discrimination alleged by a former top social services official, Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd ruled Wednesday. As a result, the state must disclose the records of the allegations as well as pay legal costs for the Courier Journal, which sought the records after Adria Johnson, the […]
In a move slammed by proponents of press freedom, Georgia politicians are considering a law that would create a journalism board to oversee the work of journalists in the state. The move, introduced by the Republican state legislator Andrew Welch just before he resigned his seat, has generated widespread outrage, though it fits into a pattern of […]
Read More… from Georgia lawmakers consider bill that takes aim at the state’s journalists
The Texas Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a bill by Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, that aims to restore the strength of the state’s freedom-of-information law following two 2015 court rulings that critics say undermined transparency by opening up massive loopholes for government contracting records. In the 2017 legislative session, the Senate approved a more ambitious […]
Read More… from Texas Senate approves Kirk Watson bill aimed at bolstering Public Information Act
By Monica Nieporte, Executive Director It has been a busy couple of weeks at the Ohio Statehouse. In addition to trying to get our own legislation introduced about adding open meetings to the court of claims process and getting an anti-SLAPP bill moving again, we have been researching and weighing in on a few other […]
Read More… from ONMA legislative update, including pending open government issues
