Start building your FOI story file now to justify transparency later
Start building your FOI story file now to help you out later when an agency denies you public records. Find important stories in your state that have huge public importance and interest that could not have been done without public records. In a Word or Excel file, start a list including the headline, date, publication, author, link to the story, the good that resulted, and the specific records used. Then, when an agency denies you access to records, look up your list of stories and pull examples that demonstrate how the records help society. Use this list for several purposes:
1. Writing a story about the denial. Use the examples to illustrate for the public how the records help society.
2. Improving state public records laws. Specific examples really resonate with legislators.
3. Amicus briefs for cases involving public records. The examples help make a strong case to judges.
For an example of a FOI story list, check out the "FOIA Files: Stories that matter," which includes 309 record-based stories put online by The Sunshine in Government Initiative.
Create a newsroom list with everyone chipping in, do it as an SPJ chapter FOI project, or make a class project out of it and provide the information to journalism faculty and the student paper. Show people that FOI matters!