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Sunshine Week 2009 Survey Of State Government Information Online
Sunshine Week 2009 Survey Of State Government Information Online
The Sunshine Week 2009 Survey of State Government Information online found that while more and more government records are being posted online, some of the most important information is being left offline. And in some cases governments are charging taxpayers to access records that they already paid for, such as death certificates. Teams of surveyors scanned government Web sites in every U.S. state to look for 20 different kinds of public records. The results were released today at the start of Sunshine Week 2009, which runs March 15-21. The study was developed by Sunshine Week, the American Society of Newspaper Editors' Freedom of Information Committee, the National Freedom of Information Coalition, and the Society of Professional Journalists' FOI Committee.Continue reading
Sunshine Week Nationwide Snapshot of Government Records Online
Nationwide Snapshot of Government Records Online Is Focus for Sunshine Week Transparency Project, January 27, 2009, Debra Gersh Hernandez, Coordinator, Sunshine Week.
Sunshine Week's government transparency project for 2009 is enlisting journalists, educators and students, openness advocates and others to develop a snapshot of public records that states make available on their Web sites. The information collected will be distilled into a nationwide report released for Sunshine Week, which runs March 15-21. ..."This year's Sunshine Week project is among our most ambitious and most interesting, as we are highlighting what is becoming an essential part of an informed democracy: easy access to information," commented Charles Davis, NFOIC executive director. "The Internet can be a great force for democratic participation, but only if governments embrace transparency and move to put more information online." Categories for the survey include death certificates, nursing home and child care inspection reports, financial audits, bridge inspection and safety reports, school test data and inspection records, consumer complaints against businesses, and environmental citations. The worksheet is on the Sunshine Week Web site, and anyone is welcome to utilize it for their localized reports.Continue reading
Speaking Out Against FEMA Information Delays
Senator Mary Landrieu wrote an article at poynter.org, "letting the sunshine in" to illuminate delayed FEMA response to FOIA requests in regards to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. For example, Mark Schleifstein of the New Orleans Times-Picayune filed a FOIA request with FEMA regarding its disaster response operations and planning. After two years (and asking him twice if he was "still interested"), FEMA has yet to act. But it's this part of the article that really hits a nerve: "Baton Rouge Advocate reported this week that it had filed a FOIA request in 2006 seeking documentation on FEMA’s contracting procedures and the decisions behind deploying travel trailers across the Gulf Coast. FEMA says they will release the information -- for a fee. The going price for the truth is apparently $209,990, principally to defray copying costs. The agency said the documents are not available electronically and that the only hard copies are stored in its New Orleans field office. Meanwhile, on its Website, FEMA itself advises that, 'If you plan ahead and copy what you have onto compact disks, you can be secure in knowing that they will not be lost in the future.' " I just don't know what to say after reading that... Continue reading
NARA Opens Cold War CIA Records
In the spirit of Sunshine Week, the National Archives announced the opening of 1.3 million pages of Cold War era Central Intelligence Agency records, dating from 1947 to 1977. The documents are being released as “a part of the National Declassification Initiative program announced by the Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein in April 2006.” I'm not sure how many of these are available as digital copies, but nevertheless, these records may help some of my student patrons with their papers on the "Red Scare" and the Cold War (every semester I have at least five students working on some aspect of this topic!). Continue reading
Change-Congress.org
Lawrence Lessig gave a lecture at the National Press Club on Thursday and introduced a plan designed to increase congressional transparency via the launch of Change-Congress.org. The website provides a venue for data on earmarks, campaign financing, etc. and advocates an end to corporate and private interests. It organizes citizens to push candidates to make four commitments: No money from lobbyists or PACs, vote to end earmarks, support publicly-financed campaigns, and support reform to increase Congressional transparency. Change-Congress.org has ambitious goals, that's for sure. Will it work? Greater transparency is needed, and this initiative will certainly help in that effort. But can "big money" every truly go away? Nevertheless, it is a noble effort, and I urge you to join their cause, take the pledge, and volunteer your efforts in contacting candidates to take the pledge! Continue reading
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