Welcome to SPJ Blogs Sign in | Join | Help

May 2008 - Posts

Saturday, May 31, 2008 10:24 PM

Albuquerque police officer rassles TV cameraman, cites him for failure to obey

A TV cameraman in Albuquerque was attacked, cuffed and cited by a police officer for allegedly not leaving a public street. The KOB-TV cameraman was covering a standoff Thursday and approached a blocked off area of the street. Police told him to go back
posted by DavidCuillier | 1 Comments
Saturday, May 31, 2008 10:15 PM

Tennessee to get better public records law

Tennessee will have a stronger open records law, including setting a seven-day time limit to respond to a public records request and creation of a records ombudsman office. The bill, which awaits signing by the governor, improves access in Tennessee,
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Saturday, May 31, 2008 9:27 PM

Police hide details of arrested jail guard to "protect the victim"

A county corrections officer in New York faces felony charges but officials won't release any details, and delayed a month releasing the officer's name. The reason for the secrecy? They said to protect the victim (see story). Interesting how the details
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 3:15 PM

Press releases could become "Controlled unclassified info"

Steven Aftergood, who writes the Secrecy News blog, posted news today of the Bush administration's proposal to temporarily mark press releases as "controlled unclassified information" to prevent them from being released prematurely. This could be applied
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Monday, May 26, 2008 3:10 PM

Document-driven story idea for California: Excessive force by rogue cops

Here's a document-driven story idea that can now be done in California again, along with most other states: Rogue cops who beat the crap out of people. Request from your police agencies the use-of-force reports or internal investigations regarding use
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Monday, May 26, 2008 12:10 AM

Need for information about companies drives SEC records online

When big money rides on stock buy-sell decisions, people want to know as much as they can about companies. That need for information has pushed SEC records online thanks to a private company demanding the government comply with FOIA. A Minneapolis company
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Saturday, May 24, 2008 12:17 PM

Document-driven story idea: Follow government employees to their new contractor jobs

Here's a classic document-driven story that you  can do in your community: Request a list of employees from a government agency that does a lot of contracting with private companies, such as a city, state, or federal agency. Request the list
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Thursday, May 22, 2008 12:33 AM

Secrecy edicts a sign of desperation by Detroit mayor

Embattled Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is desperate because his lies have been exposed through public records. Now he wants to try to hide more by proclaiming all text messages sent on city equipment as secret. It's a common tactic of our worst public
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 3:02 PM

N.C. study shows how poor most agencies are at proactive dissemination

A study by the John Locke Foundation, a conservative think tank, found that most local and state agencies in North Carolina are really bad at proactively providing public data online, particularly budget data. As the group notes in its study released
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Monday, May 19, 2008 7:56 PM

Connecticut police chief says he messed up in hiding arrest of police commissioner

Brookfield (Conn.) Police Chief Robin Montgomery acknowledged that he erred in keeping secret the arrest of a member of the Police Commission. The commissioner was arrested on a charge of second-degree harassment, but the fact of the arrest was kept secret.
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Monday, May 19, 2008 7:36 PM

FOI training needed for citizen journalists - and ALL citizens

On Saturday I had the privilege to conduct training in accessing public records to a group of citizen journalists in Chicago as part of SPJ's citizen journalism academy (next stops next month in North Carolina and Los Angeles) and it led me to believe
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 7:52 PM

My state public records law is worse than yours - or is it?

One of the great sessions at the National Freedom of Information Coalition conference in Philadelphia last weekend focused on comparing state public records law. Everyone always seems to think their public records law is the best or worst in the nation.
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 2:23 PM

AP sues for West Virginia Supreme Court justice e-mails

The Associated Press and the West Virginia Supreme Court argued Monday in Circuit Court over whether justices are required to make public their e-mails. The court argues that they don't have to provide private e-mails, even if sent by public employees
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Monday, May 12, 2008 7:21 PM

SPJ, SPLC object to proposed FERPA changes that would increase school secrecy

The U.S. Department of Education is proposing rule changes for interpreting and implementing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and they would not bode well for journalists or the ability to hold schools accountable. The proposals
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Monday, May 12, 2008 2:05 PM

University of Mississippi releases secret donor agreement for journalism department

The University of Mississippi has agreed to release to the public an agreement that was previously kept secret regarding a donor's $5.3 million contribution to the university's department of journalism. The donation was given to the
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Monday, May 12, 2008 12:08 PM

Iowa governor wants agencies to start charging for attorneys reviewing records requests

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver wants state agencies to start charging requesters for the cost of attorneys reviewing public records requests (see Associated Press story). This is dangerous stuff. It's bad enough when an agency tries to charge for search and retrieval
posted by DavidCuillier | 1 Comments
Sunday, May 11, 2008 2:09 PM

Bringing public records home: EveryBlock makes public data relevant to people's lives

This is a cool new pilot project that could have amazing ramifications for freedom of information and news: www.everyblock.com. This Web site, launched earlier this year, provides people daily updates of news, crime, new businesses, road construction
posted by DavidCuillier | 1 Comments
Sunday, May 11, 2008 1:38 PM

Locy urges journalists: 'It's time to turn and fight'

Toni Locy says she never thought a federal shield law was needed. That is, until she ended up facing nearly $50,000 in fines and potential jail time for doing her job. That's what she told a gathering that I attended Saturday at the annual National Freedom
posted by DavidCuillier | 1 Comments
Thursday, May 08, 2008 6:09 PM

Locy arguments begin Friday, then she speaks in Philly to FOI crowd

Toni Locy, the former USA Today reporter who could face huge fines for failing to reveal her confidential sources, will argue her appeal Friday at the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. She wrote about the 2001 anthrax mailings, naming Steven Hatfill
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Wednesday, May 07, 2008 6:30 PM

Got suggestions for FOI FYI blog content?

Do you read the FOI FYI blog? I guess you do if you read this. Then we need your feedback. We here at SPJ are thinking about how to better serve members and that includes through the blogs. One suggestion batted around this past week was to ditch the
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Thursday, May 01, 2008 4:14 PM

Wisconsin AG says it's OK for police to release some information from motor vehicle records

The Wisconsin attorney general released an opinion saying it's OK for police to release information they obtained from motor vehicle records. Several papers asked for the opinion because police agencies were redacting information from police reports,
posted by DavidCuillier | 1 Comments
Thursday, May 01, 2008 4:08 PM

South Carolina paper pushes for county administrator salaries

Here's a great example of a newspaper making sure county administrators are held accountable. The Anderson Independent-Mail requested the salaries of administrators in three counties. Two complied and one is resisting. So the newspaper
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Thursday, May 01, 2008 4:00 PM

City attorney in Connecticut to release names of 90 laid off employees

City officials in Bridgeport, Conn., agreed to release the names of 90 city employees who will be laid off, but only after a fight with the newspaper and asking the employees if they thought release would be an invasion of their privacy. After the city
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments
Thursday, May 01, 2008 12:50 AM

Hawaii Legislature passes nation's 36th shield law

The Hawaii Legislature approved the nation's 36th shield law and now the bill goes to the govenor for signing. Similar to the Maine shield law passed a few weeks ago, this legislation allows protections for anyone committing acts of journalism,
posted by DavidCuillier | 0 Comments