A Brief Introduction to NFOIC

The National Freedom of Information Coalition protects our right to open government.

We are a nonpartisan alliance of citizen-driven nonprofit freedom of information organizations, academic and First Amendment centers, journalistic societies and attorneys. Our goal is nothing short of ensuring everyone’s right to information. To do this, we:

  • Work to start up new and support existing, citizen-driven Freedom of Information and First Amendment organizations.
  • Administer the Knight FOI Fund, to fuel and assist the pursuit of important FOI cases.
  • Foster the open exchange of information through networking and an annual conference.
  • Offer a national, collective voice on freedom of Information issues, making recommendations for state or national action.
  • Prepare educational reports or other publications.

Simply put: We protect your right to open government.

The need for the NFOIC emerged from a 1989 national assembly, when freedom of information groups and advocates from around the country first gathered in Dallas and formed a loose coalition. In 1991, a second such assembly formally adopted the name NFOIC and established headquarters for the organization in Dallas.  

Fall 2011 marks NFOIC’s sixth year at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, where it moved in 2005. With that move, the J-School’s Freedom of Information Center, the world’s first reference and research center devoted to the history and development of the freedom of information movement, was integrated into NFOIC.

Contact:

  • Kenneth F. Bunting
  • Executive Director, NFOIC
  • Missouri School of Journalism
  • 101E Reynolds Journalism Institute
  • Columbia, MO 65211
  • Phone 573.882.3075
  • E-mail buntingk@missouri.edu