By Kenneth F. Bunting from NFOIC:
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Soon after getting the first CNN producer’s message asking about my availability for a live, next-morning segment with their anchor, I responded affirmatively—even before a half-day meeting had concluded.
It was a busy day in a busy week. But the planned segment was about the clever ruse Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s aides used last summer to get around public records laws. To avoid possible disclosure, Jindal’s top advisors used personal email accounts while devising a communications strategy regarding hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid cuts, and a CNN segment about that duplicitous dodge struck me as a godsend.
Issues surrounding government transparency, my area of education and advocacy, don't always lend themselves to clear, black-and-white analysis. When they do, they are often arcane, and lack the sexiness for the attention-grabbing resonance the topic deserves.
But this one was comprehensible, with none of those shortcomings.