Society of Professional Journalists: Sunshine Week

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FOI FYI: SPJ’s FOI Committee Blog
— Oklahoma State University wins SPJ’s National Black Hole Award
— North Carolina paper Cherokee Scout withdraws request for gun records, grovels for forgiveness
— University of Wyoming will make presidential finalists public, despite new law

FOI Committee
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

Linda Petersen
Managing Editor
The Valley Journals
801-254-5974 X 17
E-mail
Bio (click to expand)

Linda Petersen is the managing editor of The Valley Journals, a group of 15 free, total market coverage, monthly community papers in the Salt Lake Valley, Utah.

She is president of the Utah Foundation for Open Government, a citizen coalition that works to educate and advocate for open government.

A past president of the Utah Headliners pro chapter, she is currently the chapter’s FOI officer and treasurer.

For her open government advocacy, she has received the Utah Press Association John E. Jones Award, the Utah Headliners Clifford P. Cheney Service to Journalism Award and the Howard S. Dubin Outstanding Pro Chapter Member Award.

Home > Freedom of Information > Sunshine Week > FOI Resources

FOI Resources

Sunshine Week

Mediated Access: Journalists’ Perceptions of Federal Public Information Officer Media Control [PDF, 201 KB]

On the eve of Sunshine Week 2012, a survey of journalists who cover federal agencies found that information flow in the United States is highly regulated by public affairs officers, to the point where most reporters considered the control to be a form of censorship and an impediment to providing information to the public. According to a survey of 146 reporters who cover federal agencies, conducted by the Society of Professional Journalists in February 2012, journalists indicated that public information officers often require pre-approval for interviews, prohibit interviews of agency employees, and often monitor interviews. Read the rest of the report, presented by SPJ's Carolyn Carlson, David Cuillier and Lindsey Tulkoff, here [PDF, 201 KB].

Sunshineweek.org:
Most recent posts
– Judges wary on bin Laden photos
– Bin Laden death photos stay secret
– Images of a dead bin Laden still dangerous: U.S. lawyer
– Judges seem wary of release of bin Laden photos
– Conservative legal group wants photos released

Resources
— Sunshine Week Web site
— Chapter FOI program ideas
— Campus FOI resources
— FOI activities for newsrooms
— Writing about FOI
— Quotable expert sources
— FOI studies and reports
— Curriculum and classroom ideas for teachers
— FOI resources
— Sunshine Week Logos

Also...

SPJ's Black Hole Award: The Society of Professional Journalists launched the Black Hole Award this year to highlight the most heinous violations of the public's right to know. By exposing examples of unnecessary and harmful secrecy, we hope to educate the public to their rights and hold government accountable. The Freedom of Information Committee accepted nominations for 2010 violations, coordinated by committee member Mike Farrell of the University of Kentucky, and selected the winner along with five runners-up. This award will be handed out annually during national Sunshine Week. Click here to read about this year's winner and the five runners-up.

Reporter’s Guide to FERPA: Navigating the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act: 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 Education 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 with this guide, produced by the Society of Professional Journalists in conjunction with the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.

Society of Professional Journalists
— FOI FYI
— Sunshine Chair in your state
— David Cuillier, FOI Committee chairman, 520-626-9694
— Open Doors publication guide to access

Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
— Reports and tips regarding access, including a guide to using FOIA and a state-by-state explanation of access laws.
— Online FOIA and state request letter generators

Student Press Law Center
— Online state records request letter generator and guides to campus records

Coalition of Journalists for Open Government
— Tracks issues regarding access issues

Citizen Access Project
— State-by-state comparison and ratings of access laws

National Freedom of Information Coalition
— Contact coalitions in your state
— Also, see http://www.missouri.edu/~foiwww

Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE)
— Keyword searchable morgue of 23,000 investigative stories and 2,000 tip sheets
— Hundreds of FOIA requests that have been filed
— Cheap access to dozens of federal databases
— Web site (Membership required for full use of site)

The Associated Press FOI page
Find news and issues regarding FOI at this Web site updated by The Associated Press.

Openthegovernment.org
This non-profit group, represented by a variety of organizations including SPJ, has current news and reports on FOI. This group is particularly good at keeping up on federal access issues.

The National Security Archive
This institute separate from government acquires and posts a variety of interesting government documents. Check it out for great story ideas.

Government Attic
This site launched in 2007 gathers a variety of interesting federal records and posts them online, mainly as pdf files, for people to view and use as they like. Great story ideas.

Freedom of Information Center
This center at the University of Missouri School of Journalism provides a ton of information about access to public records laws and access audits.

OMB Watch
This group fights for open government information for citizens, posting news and providing sources and studies on freedom of information. Check it out.

Web sites with great document-driven ideas you can use in your own community
— SPJ Open Doors, records A-Z
— IRE Extra! Extra! daily stories
— Society of Environmental Journalists story archive
— Center for Investigative Reporting story blog
— iDig Answers “hit records”
— Google News Alerts (Go to Google News, click on “News Alerts”, then set up alerts with keywords such as “public records request” and “freedom of information” and Google will send you links to stories that contain those keywords).

Click here to contact the Project Sunshine Chair in your state.