Sunshine Week Reading Room
Below are various resources and reports on freedom of information and transparency at the federal and state levels. If you know of other noteworthy materials, please
email us a link or PDF.
Visit the websites of the
American Society of News Editors and the
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press for more news and resources about open government laws and freedom of information issues.
Open Government Guide
The Open Government Guide from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is an online compendium of open records and meetings laws in 50 states and the District of Columbia. This free, online resource allows users to look up the laws in their states and compare them to others.
Federal Open Government Guide, with FOIA letter generator
The Reporters Committee Federal Open Government Guide explains the parameters of what can and can’t be requested from federal government agencies. Accompanied by an online request letter generator, these tools will help people to understand and use the law to get information.
AP Surveys Effectiveness of Freedom of Information Laws Across the Globe
The Associated Press used one week in January to audit the Freedom of Information laws in 105 nations and the European Union.
"Only 14 countries responded with the full information we asked for within their legal deadline. Most countries did not provide us with any of the information we asked for. Three out of 10 requests were completely ignored," AP reported. "In short, most countries are simply not following their own laws."
The report and supporting materials are all posted to a special AP Facebook page, available to anyone.
2011 Secrecy Report
The Secrecy Report is an annual, quantitative study from OpentheGovernment.org that collects data on government classification, FOIA requests and other statistics on openness from various government and non-profit sources.
Open Government Status Survey
The National Freedom of Information Coalition and the Media Law Resource Center surveyed journalists, citizens and media lawyers to find their opinions on access issues and freedom of information.
The C
itizen Journalist’s Guide to Open Government
The Citizen Journalist’s Guide to Open Government is a multimedia e-learning module on how to obtain public records and get access to public meetings. It was created by the Knight Citizen News Network and features an interactive map that tells citizens how they can locate open-government information on each of the 50 state Web sites.
Transparency Drives Trust in Government, Survey Finds
Nextgov reports on a survey by ForeSee Results that shows perceptions of transparency drive public trust in the federal government and encourages people to access information available online.
First Amendment Bibliography
The Poynter Institute Web site features links to relevant sites and articles, as well as a list of books.
The Freedom of Information Act at 40
In 2006, journalist Judy Woodruff hosted a video history that marked 40th anniversary of the signing of the federal Freedom of Information Act on July 4, 1966.
Click here for a .mpg file. Go here for a .mov file.