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 that we need even more FOI education not just for citizen journalists but for ALL citizens. It's difficult for anyone, including seasoned journalists, to obtain public records, but it seems virtually impossible for the average person who doesn't even know where to start. They don't teach it in the schools or college. Heck, a lot of university journalism programs don't teach it well, and very, very few offer separate classes just on freedom of information (check out these ideas for teaching FOI if you are an educator, as well as campus projects conducted for Sunshine Week). If more citizens are accessing public records relevant and important to their lives then that will pry things open for journalists as well. Some newspapers do a great job of educating citizens during national Sunshine Week (check out some of the cool projects they did this year) but maybe there are even more ideas for empowering citizens in the art of access. If you have ideas for educating the public on how to access public records, sling me an e-mail at cuillier@email.arizona.edu.