Alabama journalists struggle with secrecy over victim names
Alabama Sunshine Chair Paul Cloos reports that journalists are struggling with new state legislation that moves victim name and other identifying information off the front page of police incident reports. While police are given authority to release the information, some aren't. For example, a police chief in Prichard, Ala., refuses to release the names of homicide victims.
To improve access education in the state, the Alabama Center for Open Government plans to overhaul its Web site in the next year, and is raising money for the effort. Any suggestions for developing a good Web site can be forwarded to Cloos at pcloos@press.register.com.