What’s the Worst FOI Fail of 2011? Nominate it for the Black Hole Award…

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Charles N. Davis

The Society of Professional Journalists is seeking nominations for its Black Hole Award. The Black Hole serves as the counterpoint to the Sunshine Award, highlighting particularly heinous violations of the public’s right to know. By exposing the bad actors, we hope to educate members of the public to their rights and call attention to those [...]

Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 2. Doc state of mind, 3. Access law, 6. Overcoming denials | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

We have a Sunshine Week winner!

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Charles N. Davis

A Washington state woman who used the courts to force the disclosure of public records that revealed corruption in her county auditor’s office is the winner of the 2011 American Society of News Editors Local Heroes contest. Gloria Howell of Stevenson, Wash., is one of three citizens recognized by ASNE in its national contest honoring [...]

Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 2. Doc state of mind | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

Sunshine Week Linkapalooza!

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Charles N. Davis

LOTS of Sunshine Week stuff today, as the festivities are leavened with a fresh batch of outrage over some terrible legislative proposals… Back to Utah’s (or Utahkistan, as one wag called it today), here is a nice page that keeps track of everything related to HB477. And SPJ handed out its first-ever Black Hole Award [...]

Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 3. Access law | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

A Sunshine Week Grabbag of Goodies…

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Charles N. Davis

In Webster, New York, the Penfield Post did a nifty county audit: More than 1,500 Freedom of Information requests were filed with town and village clerks in a dozen Monroe County towns in 2010. Requests ranged from only 10 in East Rochester, to 550 in Greece, and together they tell a tale of what residents, [...]

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Knight Open Government Survey: The Ship of State, She Turns Slowly…

Posted on March 13, 2011 by Charles N. Davis

The 2011 Knight Open Government Survey is out to kick off Sunshine Week, and it contains all kinds of interesting data. Here is the lede of the release: On his first day in office in January 2009, President Barack Obama issued a presidential memorandum instructing federal agencies to “usher in a new era of open [...]

Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 3. Access law, 8. Officials' perspectives | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

A Few Tidbits of Openness On a Sunday….

Posted on March 13, 2011 by Charles N. Davis

A nice Sunshine Week column in the Salt Lake Tribune provides an interesting perspective by comparing the writer’s experience with the state’s pre-HB477 law with California’s… The Cape Code Times launches its Sunshine Week coverage with a great little local audit: A review by the Cape Cod Times shows compliance with the Massachusetts Public Records [...]

Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 2. Doc state of mind, 3. Access law | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

Some good, some bad in AP Sunshine overview

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Charles N. Davis

The full story is here. More openness in government. Lawmakers across the country, including the Republicans who took control in many states this year, say they want it. But a survey of all 50 states by the Associated Press has found that efforts to boost openness often are being thwarted by old patterns of secrecy. [...]

Filed under: 3. Access law, 7. Electronic records, 8. Officials' perspectives | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

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