open government – Page 15 – National Freedom of Information Coalition

Attorney General’s office welcomes public for Open Meeting Law forum

Posted on

The state Attorney General's office is welcoming the public for an educational forum on Open Meeting Law in Hanover on Wednesday, April 1.

The meeting is one way the office aims to help governing bodies as well as members of the public to better understand and comply with the requirements of the Open Meeting Law, according to a news release. State, local, regional, and county public bodies are required to comply with the Open Meeting Law.

[…]

Opinion: Federal agencies stiff-arm FOIA requests

Posted on

On his first day in office in 2009, President Obama promised that transparency would be one of the "touchstones of this presidency."

Advocates for open government were ecstatic at the promise of less secrecy and the president's directive to all government agencies that "in the face of doubt, openness prevails."

[…]

A sampling of NY journalists’ open government challenges

Posted on

Some recent examples of New York journalists facing challenges to efforts to shine light on the working of local government:

ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE

The newspaper is involved in two lawsuits challenging authorities' denial of requests for information under the state Freedom of Information Law. Continue>>>
=======

[…]

Why customs officials struggle to fulfill Obama’s open-government promise

Posted on

On his first day in the White House six years ago, President Obama promised that his administration would “usher in a new era of open government,” making it easier than ever to obtain information from federal agencies.

That is not how it has turned out at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

[…]

New players join newspapers in using FOIA requests

Posted on

Newspapers were once the dominant force in dislodging documents and other records from reluctant federal government agencies, but a new crop of media players, advocacy groups and corporate interests now drive the release of information.

The Freedom of Information Act of 1966 was first envisioned as a tool for traditional media to seek documents, data and information they deemed important to the public's interest. It also was meant to allow ordinary Americans to seek information from the federal government about themselves.

[…]

Reforms to improve Michigan public record access

Posted on

It was a simple request of a government agency.

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy wanted 21/2 months' of price data collected by the state Liquor Control Commission.

The information was available and would fit on a flash drive, Michael LaFaive, the center's director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative was told, if he had one on hand. He didn't. Continue>>>
======

[…]

Sunshine Week — open government awareness

Posted on

The annual nationwide Sunshine Week is celebrated this year from March 15 – 21. USA newspapers publish stories about public records and the difficulty in obtaining some of them. “Public records” are generally defined as records regardless of their physical form (so email would be included) made or received in connection with the transaction of official business by any government agency.

[…]

New FOIA training targets ‘everyday employee’

Posted on

The Justice Department's Office of Information Policy is introducing a new suite of tools to train feds on Freedom of Information Act procedures. The new training is suitable for all federal employees, not just FOIA officials.

The tools — to be released later this week — will include a brief video introduction to FOIA by OIP Director Melanie Ann Pustay; separate online training modules for FOIA-centric positions and general employees; and a quick-reference infographic targeted to new federal employees.

[…]

A media consipiracy that’s good for you

Posted on

by Eric Newton

Each spring for 10 years now, a vast media conspiracy has rolled across the hills and plains of this nation. Journalists of every stripe – cartoonists to commentators to hard news reporters – have been in on it. And not just journalists, but politicians, educators and librarians, as well as members of nonprofits and civic groups.

[…]

Open-government activist sues Pierce County for ‘clandestine’ decision-making against citizen referendum

Posted on

An open-government champion has sued the Pierce County Council for allegedly violating the state open public meetings law — another twist in the saga over the county’s controversial plan to build a $127 million government headquarters in Tacoma’s South End.

[…]