Society of Professional Journalists: A Reporter's Guide to FERPA

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This committee is the watchdog of press freedoms across the nation. It relies upon a network of volunteers in each state organized under Project Sunshine. These SPJ members are on the front lines for assaults to the First Amendment and when lawmakers attempt to restrict the public's access to documents and the government's business. The committee often is called upon to intervene in instances where the media is restricted.

Freedom of Information Committee Chair
David Cuillier
Assistant Professor
Department of Journalism
University of Arizona
Marshall Building, Room 323
Tucson, AZ 85721-0158
Work: 520/626-9694
Fax: 520/621-7557
E-mail
Bio (click to expand)

David Cuillier, a former newspaper reporter and editor, is an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism at the University of Arizona. He researches public attitudes toward freedom of information and is one of the SPJ newsroom trainers for acquiring government documents.

Joe Adams, vice chair
Editorial writer
The Florida Times-Union
One Riverside Avenue
Jacksonville, FL 32202
Work: 904-359-4534
Fax: 904-359-4390
E-mail
Bio (click to expand)

Joe Adams is an editorial writer at The Florida Times-Union and author of The Florida Public Records Handbook published by the First Amendment Foundation in Tallahassee.

Eight universities in Florida have used the book as a textbook, the only one of its kind in the nation, and more than 1,000 journalists have attended his workshops on how to use public records for success. He is the recipient of the national 2007 Eugene S. Pulliam First Amendment Award sponsored by the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation and has earned two national Sunshine Awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. In December 2000, Presstime magazine profiled him as one of the top 20 under 40 newspaper industry professionals to watch in the future.

As an editorial writer, Adams has received awards from the Florida Press Club, Florida Society of Newspaper Editors and the Society of Professional Journalists. His year of public records research of the Jacksonville City Council uncovered widespread open meetings abuses. The resulting work by Adams and the newsroom inspired a grand jury probe and prompted the council in 2007 to create the state's first known local ordinance to ensure better compliance with Florida's Sunshine Law. He is originator of the www.iDigAnswers.com Web site about Florida FOI news and public records use.

Adams is founder and past coordinator of Times-Union University, the Jacksonville newspaper's newsroom training program, and is also former director of the National Newspaper Diversity Job Bank on the Internet. He also taught information gathering for two years as an adjunct professor at the University of North Florida.

Home > Freedom of Information > Reporter’s Guide to FERPA

Reporter’s Guide to FERPA
Navigating the Family Educational Rights
and Privacy Act

Contents
— Font Page
— Introduction
— FERPA Nuts and Bolts
— Top Ten Story Ideas For FERPA Enterprisers
— FERPA Tales: It Doesn’t Always Apply
— FERPA: Murphy’s Law
— Additional Resources

Ever have a tough time getting public records from schools or universities? We feel your pain and are here to help you. The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act has been twisted beyond recognition, keeping school lunch menus, graduation honors and athletic travel records secret. Take back your right to information. This guide was produced in 2010 by the Society of Professional Journalists in conjunction with the Georgia First Amendment Foundation to help journalists and citizens understand their rights to education records and not allow school officials to hide important public information while still protecting legitimate student privacy.

About this project
This guide was produced by the Society of Professional Journalists’ Freedom of Information Committee in 2010 for national Sunshine Week to aid reporters and citizens acquire school records they are legally entitled to while still protecting student privacy. The project was led by Carolyn Carlson, a former national SPJ president and a journalism professor at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Ga. Contributors included Charles Davis, David Chartrand, Sonny Albarado, and Jodi Cleesattle. Also, some of the information is courtesy of Georgia Public Schools and the Open Records Act: A Citizen’s Guide to Accessing School Records, which was sponsored by the Georgia First Amendment Foundation, Inc., the Georgia Department of Law, the Georgia Parent Teacher Association and the Georgia Press Association. The Georgia First Amendment Foundation received funding for the booklet from the Georgia Bar Foundation and the National Freedom of Information Coalition through a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

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