January 30, 2009
CONTACT:
Charles N. Davis
Executive Director, National Freedom of Information Coalition
daviscn@missouri.edu
573.882.5736
http://nfoic.org/
NFOIC awards new grants to state coalitions
Columbia, MO -- The National Freedom of Information Coalition awarded new grants at its December board meeting in Columbia, Missouri, and it's an impressive list of worthwhile activities and projects that will be funded.
Meeting for the first time at the brand new Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism in December of 2008, the NFOIC board awarded eight grants to eight coalitions for a total of $69,820 in this the first of two grant award periods.
Among other things, grant projects include FOIA Help Lines, DVD production, upgrades to web sites, online workshops, statewide teaching projects and seminars, and community forums.
Charles N. Davis, executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition, was extremely pleased with the results.
"We're thrilled to be able to award so many grants to so many worthy NFOIC state coalitions," Davis said. "These groups--and the folks who comprise them--do so much great work for the Freedom of Information cause."
"Simply put," Davis continued, "NFOIC exists primarily to help state groups fight the FOI fight."
Each year, NFOIC offers approximately $220,000 in pass-through grants to state coalitions. These grants foster the creation and growth of state FOI coalitions to protect the public's right to an open government, and to assist with projects furthering public access to government records and meetings.
The grants are available to all NFOIC member coalitions with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.
The NFOIC is supported by a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, an organization dedicated to improving journalism worldwide.
Below is a list of the coalitions, the amount awarded to each, and a brief synopsis of the grants.
| Coalition Member |
Grant Synopsis |
Amount |
| Delaware Coalition for Open Government |
To support the development of the FOIA Help Line and to help cover some expenses incurred from contact with state, county and local entities on the subject of FOIA. |
$1,500 |
| First Amendment Foundation |
To support the expansion of the educational tools FAF offers on its web site to provide expert information online that will assist citizens interested in becoming active in their communities, reporters with open government questions, and government officials needing help or sunshine training.
|
$11,320 |
| Georgia First Amendment Foundation |
To support a state-wide teaching project for Georgia's high
school students. This project will develop interactive hypotheticals that
eventually can be adapted for use by all states to teach high school
students the fundamentals of open government. |
$12,500 |
| Idahoans for Open Government |
To support the planning, conducting and publicizing of seminars around the state, as well as duplication of a DVD and costs associated with work with the Attorney General, and other costs related to these projects. |
$12,500 |
| Iowa Freedom of Information Council |
To support IFOIC working together with the Iowa Newspaper Foundation and other media organizations in implementing a four-part series of online workshops focused on training Iowa’s journalists on freedom of information topics. |
$6,500 |
| New Mexico Foundation for Open Government |
To support the publication of FOG LIGHT for NMFOG’s members and to publicize and expand its readership. FOG LIGHT is NMFOG's semi-annual newsletter to members.
|
$11,500 |
| Utah Foundation for Open Government |
To cover the production of a 30-minute DVD on open government to be used in the classroom that
could be used by social studies, civics and journalism teachers to pique
students' interest in the subject. The DVD would explore the issue of government transparency with actors
portraying a scenario wherein students are impacted personally by government. |
$9,000 |
| Washington Coalition for Open Government |
To help continue the series of free, open community forums
that WCOG has presented in 17 cities around Washington over the past five
years. Attendance has ranged from between 35 and 80 people at each venue.
Statewide public access television often supplies a crew to tape the
forums, which are then shown on its channel and are archived, and can also be
viewed on the WCOG website at any time. |
$5,000 |
