Exploring Records and Access

The World Without Records.

• The Dallas Morning News offered graphic examples of how the paper’s front pages would look without access to government records and meetings,providing readers a sense of both the dramatic and the trivial ways the public record informs their lives.

Profiles of FOI Advocates.

• The Florida Society of News Editors made available to all state newspapers profiles of people who had been key to FOI gains in the Sunshine State and offered columns on open government issues written by notable Floridians.

Your Rights on Page One.

• The Brunswick Beacon, a weekly based in Shallotte, N.C., devoted all of its front page and several pages inside to special Sunshine Week coverage, with the front page banner headline:  “Your Government, Your Rights.”  The reports included Beacon efforts to get documents from elected officials, reviewed news stories that were made possible by open records, looked at commissioners' e-mails, and examined town and school system spending.

Your Right to Know.

• The Idaho Statesman published a series of daily reports on "Public Records You Can Use," featuring the Right to Know logo and explaining how to get information from various local government offices.    

Guides to Records Searches.

• The Reading (Pa.) Eagle offered a Page One graphic to help readers search for records from federal, state, county and municipal governments and schools. The headline “Yours for the asking” reminded readers that government information belongs to the public. Inside, the Eagle devoted considerable space to very specific guides to getting information in Pennsylvania and from the federal government, including tips on what to expect when a request is made and what to do if it is denied.
• The St. Cloud (Minn.) Times produced a nearly full-page information graphic explaining how to search for government records. The paper also ran a list of agencies that can help with access.
• The Shreveport (La.) Times and the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin both used board game-style information graphics to show readers the path to follow in seeking public records.  

Model Sunshine Law.

• The San Jose Mercury News published a model open government law in the paper and online to “start a conversation about how our (city) government can better serve the people.”

• The Dayton (Ohio) Daily News published a week’s worth of tips on how to get public information, such as credit reports, the location of registered sex offenders, school records, campaign contributions, court records online and business data from the Securities and Exchange Commission. It also showed how to track a bill in the General Assembly. The newspaper hosted a roundtable discussion about the impact of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) on privacy and the right to know. Excerpts of the discussion were printed in the newspaper, with the transcript available online.

• The Daily Journal in Kankakee, Ill., used two inside pages to explore records access issues, including a report on how citizens have used  public information to make a difference in their communities.

• The Quad City Times reviewed six months of public records requests to local city governments and school districts, reporting on who was looking for what.

• The New Jersey Sunday Herald in Newton opened Sunshine Week with dual reports on the most active requester under the state’s Open Public Records Act and on the kinds of requests local agencies receive. The Herald also reported on what its reporters experienced when seeking public documents.

• The Austin American Statesman profiled three individuals seeking records on school performance data, information on a proposed horse track, and landfill plans in response to local issues that concerned them.
• The Dayton Daily News also reported on citizens who gathered public records to fight landfills, and to block construction of an airport runway, and to halt the disposal of dangerous chemicals in the sewer system.

Neighborhood Activists. 

• The San Diego (Calif.) Union-Tribune spotlighted neighborhood leaders who had used  public records to improve and protect their communities, combining this with links to sites featuring resources for obtaining federal, state and local records.

Citizens’ FOIA Search.

• The Bristol, Va, Herald Courier sent a local resident to request city records and then related the requester’s experiences, including the reactions of various city officials. It also detailed the kind of documents open to the public and where to find them.
• The Roanoke (Va) Times provided a clip-out FOIA request form and urged readers to let them know what interesting things were discovered with their requests.

Guide for Muckrakers.

• The Santa Fe (N.M.) Reporter released an updated version of its MuckrakersGuide.com, an online "tool shed" for reporters and others to access links and resources for getting public records.

Open Government Issues

Government in the Shadows. 

• The Advocate-Messengerin Danville, Ky., focused its Sunshine Week efforts on a series of articles about the legislature’s efforts “to make secret certain documents, or parts of documents, or to make it more difficult to follow the activities of government.” Stories included review of a bill to erase felony convictions; analysis of a proposal to label as private all emails, telephone call records or correspondence to legislators; a look at a measure to withhold the names of people who’ve been given concealed-weapons permits; and a report on the demise of a bill that would have opened the records of juveniles charged with felonies.

Court Secrets.

• The Greenville (S.C.) News ran a front-page article about open government issues each day during Sunshine Week. Stories ranged from secrecy in the courts to report fees, online resources, emergency response plans and how people can effect change. An info box explained Sunshine Week and directed readers to the Web for more resources, including tips on filing a Freedom of Information Act request. At the end of the week, the News published a Dimension section front article about the difficulties FOIA faces on its 40th anniversary. Inside the A section, was a full-page on how to get government data and info graphics about trends in getting information.

Assessing Transparency Efforts.

• The Associated Press reviewed efforts to increase government openness in each of the states, reflecting both improvements and obstacles to change.

• The Danville, Ky. Advocate-Messenger presented a series of articles focusing on the legislative proposals to exempt various records from public disclosure, including the expunging of certain criminal records, making emails and telephone records of legislators private, and blocking disclosure of concealed weapons permits.
• The Greenville, S.C., News carried front-page articles on transparency issues each day of Sunshine Week, including the high cost of obtaining some records, the inconsistencies in making records available online, and the difficulty in viewing emergency response plans.

Spotlighting Open Records.

• The Oklahoman placed a Sunshine Week icon with every story that was reported because of an open meeting or utilized a public record, about 70 percent of the stories that appeared during the week. 

Featuring Local Leaders.

• The San Diego Union-Tribune not only featured neighborhood leaders who used public records to benefit their communities, it offered them and others an extensive online guide, with links, to open government resources at the local, state and federal levels.

• The Indianapolis Star reviewed records law changes that have made it easier for the public to get access to government information. It also found many violations and a public generally unaware of its rights. 

Statehouse Secrecy.

• The Albany Times Union illustrated a story on statehouse secrecy with a photo of a heavily redacted front page, reporting that many state officials were perversely using New York’s Freedom Of Information Law to “FOIL” records requests.

Foster Children Seeking Family Data.

• The Palm Beach Post reported on the difficulties many foster children have getting records about themselves and their natural families from the state.

Information Access Hurdles

• The Honolulu Advertiser explored the obstacles people face when trying to obtain even the most basic government information. The paper also provided a guide to those records available in 29 separate government agency offices.
• WPEC told the story of being consistently frustrated in efforts to get information on school volunteers in West Palm Beach.

Investigative Reporting with FOIA

• IRE’s Resource Center. Investigative Reporters and Editors maintains a Resource Center, rescntr@ire.org, that lists a range of investigative stories that utilized public records. It also provides copies of freedom of information audits conducted by many newspapers along with details on how their stories were produced.
• Victim Compensation. The Baltimore Sun used more than 6,000 agency records to complete its investigation of the state's victim compensation fund.
• Chattiest Cathy. The Nashua Telegraph used public records searches to provide residents with Sunshine Week reports on city employees who run up large city-provided cell phone bills at taxpayer expense and on excessive longevity payments.

Audits

• Transparency Policies. The weekly Community Free Press in Springfield, Mo., conducted an audit of the Sunshine Law policies of 13 area public offices.
• School records Requests. The Press & Sun-Bulletin, Binghamton, N.Y., published the results of its FOI audit of 10 local school districts and also included the results, the documents and links to other open government resources on a special Web page.
• Online Access. The Associated Press explored online access to 20 different records in each of the states and reported on its successes and failures. Half the records sought were relatively easy to find but all the records sought were available in only one state. The Chicago-area Southtown Star surveyed municipal and school system websites to measure the range of information available and the ease of access.
• Statewide Comparisons. Florida, Arizona and Montana newspapers pooled efforts to check on local records request compliance across their states. Florida’s test showed that more than 40 percent of the 200 local agencies audited either ignored or did not understand the state’s public records law. Most Arizona agencies, other than police, complied with the law.
• Testing 30 Local Agencies.  KNXV in Phoenix, working with a local taxpayer, tested the compliance of 30 local agencies, including schools districts and police departments, in responding to requests for records, including emails. The taxpayer experienced not just denials but intimidation.
• Records in Their Electronic Format. The Carroll County Times in Westminster, Md., found that state agencies would not provide records in electronic format or give out information included in a database.

Stories Using Public Records

• Sealed Pardons. The Argus Leader in Sioux Falls, S.D. uncovered pardons and prison sentence commutations that a former governor, using an obscure state law, had sealed from public view. It took an appeal to the state’s attorney general to get the records released.
• Tracking Nuclear Materials. The York, Pa. Daily Record used data gathered from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to track the use of nuclear materials in the area.
• Salary Data. The Bakersfield Californian reviewed salary records and reported on school principals being paid double the state average and firefighters pulling in lots of overtime dollars.
• Political Appointees, Car Allowances. The Detroit News spotlighted the hiring of political appointees and the misuse of public funds on vehicle allowances.
• The Mayors’ Salaries. The Deseret News compared the salaries of the elected mayors in the Salt Lake City area, finding considerable differences and in some cases, reluctance to comply with public record requests for the information.
• Saving Money, Changing Lives. The Detroit Free Press wrote about the essentiality of public records in six major reporting investigations that exposed the waste of tax dollars and health care abuses. The Orlando Sentinel made a similar connection to several of its special reports, noting stories on deadly roads,  child abuse and poorly trained teachers.

Sunshine Week Specials

• Poster Download. The Buffalo Evening News published a free, downloadable Sunshine Week poster.
• Website Page. The Telegraph in Nashua, N.H., created a special Sunshine Week page on its website that included public records audit reports and opinion columns. 

Sunshine Week Events

Media and non-profit organizations across the country have sponsored numerous Sunshine Week events. Here’s a sampling:

Public Squares

• The First Amendment Center sponsors a Freedom of Information Day workshop at the Newseum each Sunshine Week.
• Forums sponsored by Washington-based open government organizations, including OpenTheGovernment.org, OMB Watch,  and the American Library Association, have been broadcast to dozens of sites across the U.S., with follow-up discussions held among local attendees.
• The League of Women Voters joined with newspapers in a number of communities, including Billings, Mont., and Olympia, Wash., to host televised discussions on open government issues.
• The Times Herald in Port Huron, Mich. invited local city council and police officials to its cable-cast forum.
• The Dayton Daily News hosted a roundtable discussion on the impact of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act on records access, and then printed excerpts in the paper and a transcript online.

Print Forum

• The Idaho Statesman invited Boise residents to send short essays on their experiences using public records laws and why transparency is important.

Essay Contests

• South Dakotans for Open Government sponsored an essay contest urging both adults and students to write about how to "Let the Sun Shine In."
• A former governor of the Sunshine State, Florida’s Charlie Crist, launched an open government essay contest for high school students.