This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Freedom of Information Act, which was designed to give the public the right to scrutinize the records of government agencies. Almost no one needs public records more than an organization like ProPublica, whose mission is producing work that “shines a light on exploitation of the weak by the strong and on the failures of those with power to vindicate the trust placed in them.”
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Read More… from Delayed, Denied, Dismissed: Failures on the FOIA Front
Now that we have achieved Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reforms in the United States, it's critical that we use what we've learned over the past decade of releasing data online to improve not only the process but public knowledge itself. Our Congress has once again affirmed that accessing information is a right, not a privilege, and that the right is enjoyed by all citizens — not just media or industry players with advantage or influence.
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President Barack Obama recently signed a law to improve the Freedom of Information Act, but the Senate Judiciary Committee heard Tuesday that the all-time low for unfulfilled requests occurred just last year.
The committee chaired by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, convened this morning to look at FOIA 50 years after its adoption by President Lyndon Johnson. Continue…
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"We have reached a tipping point – a crisis situation – when it comes to freedom of information in this country. We are frogs in the kettle of slowly heating water," the head of the UA Journalism School, David Cuillier, told Congress on Tuesday.
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