FOIA’s 40th anniversary, future and current uses
On June 30, 2006, the National Press Club will host a panel discussion on the future of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in celebration of the 40th anniversary of this important tool of accountability. The discussion will include talk of FOIA's future. Today saw two stories on how FOIA is being used now. Serious problems at one of the few manufacturering plants for flu vaccine were revealed, thanks to a FOIA request from the San Francisco Chronicle. Although the ability of companies to produce flu vaccine is of intense interest to a nation worried about pandemic influenza, this isn't a report the government would have released on its own. When were we supposed to find out? The other FOIA story of note is one from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press exploring the interaction of Texas' State FOIA law with the Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Apparently under some seemingly justifiable circumstances, the state's open records act trumps HIPAA. Continue reading
More on google govt search from LLRX
The government information world is abuzz with talk of Google's new govt search (FGI, blogged about it here). Well, now Peggy Garvin of LLRX.com has written an analysis of google govt entitled "The Government Domain: Google's New U.S. Government Search". One of the most interesting pieces of information that she puts forth is that the new google govt search expands on the old "google uncle sam" search by indexing more than just the .gov and .mil domains. Google's new search redefines the government Web space to include important government and quasi-government sites that use .us, .edu, .org, and .com suffixes -- like the USDA Forest Service and HUD User. And our own Daniel Cornwall is quoted as saying:
"There are many more high-value services that they could have linked to. Why didn't they? Maybe because they're not experts in government information."Thanks Peggy for the in-depth article! Continue reading
Race with the Army via podcast and call for agency podcasts
Our government podcast directory adds a new entry for the first time in months and it's an unusual one. It's the Army Racing Podcast. There isn't a formal "about us" link on the larger site, but this blurb from the home page gives some flavor of the site:
The Army Racing program is in high gear for 2006. The line-up includes the NASCAR Number 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet driven by “Front Row†Joe Nemechek. Tony “The Sarge†Shumacher who pilots the U.S. Army Top Fuel dragster, and 190 mph rocket riders, Angelle Sampey and Antron Brown on their pro stock motorcycles. --All three teams combine speed, power and technology to be the best representing the best. GO ARMY!The podcasts are short (approx 4 minutes) bits of news on Army racing teams in NASCAR. Along with the racing are notes about how Army values can help you in real life. Along with highlighting our latest podcast, I'd like to ask FGI readers to stay alert for other government podcasts, especially those from state or local agencies. FirstGov has a subject-based directory for federal podcasts, but no one else I'm aware of tries to maintain links to state and local podcasts. Happy Listening! Continue reading
Breaking news: SIPP funding passes HR appropriations committee!
This just in: Representative Serrano's amendment to add an additional $10 million to the Census budget for the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) was passed by the House Appropriations Committee this morning (with no "nays")! This is a great first step towards securing funding for the SIPP. Also, the NY Times ran an editorial today entitled "Save Our SIPP" in support of the SIPP and Rep. Serrano's amendment. You may remember that FGI posted a story about the SIPP back in March. Please keep contacting your representatives to advocate for savng SIPP. Continue reading
Secrecy News highlights – New FOIA plans and Net Neutrality
The latest edition of Secrecy News written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists has a few items that may interest FGI readers:
- Freedom of Information Act improvement plans from federal agencies
- New Congressional Research Service report on Net Neutrality