News

Voice of the Free Press: When it comes to open government, appearance matter

The charge that South Burlington failed to publicly announce a gathering of a quorum of city councilors underscores the need for public officials to be far more aware of appearances. The open meeting controversy brewing in the City Council also off ...

ONA: Open records ruling a major setback

Two Ohio Supreme Court decisions denying attorney fees to a woman who fought the city of South Euclid for public records represent major setbacks to the cause of open government in Ohio, according to the Ohio Newspaper Association. “This is a ...

Editorial: Rare praise for state government

Chances are a new initiative by Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon won’t make tax time any easier, but it will be more interesting. Starting now, those who file state taxes online will have the chance to see where those tax dollars are going. A receipt will ...

Editorial: Alabama jumped the gun on Sunshine Week. And that’s just fine by me.

What’s Sunshine Week, you ask? The journalism associations behind the mid-March event describe Sunshine Week as “a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information.” Suns ...

Housing Authority hands critic big bill for photocopies

The Saratoga Springs Housing Authority may have hit on a novel way to get back at its critics — a hit in their wallets. John Kaufmann, one of the housing authority’s most persistent critics, was recently hit with a bill for $394.25, aft ...

In UK, Open Data is putting fear into local government

In recent years, the central government in the UK has been involved in pushing an open data agenda, not only on its home turf, but also globally through the Open Government Partnership of which it was one of the eight founding members. The idea is to ...

Clinton White House documents released

More than 3,500 pages of previously secret Clinton White House documents made public Friday showed that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Some of the confidential memos, notes and other papers released by the National Archives referred to technological advances of the times, such as the 1995 memo that suggested then first lady Hillary Clinton use the Internet to speak to young women because it "has become very popular." Others detailed political battles over health care reform that sounded like today's headlines. read more ...

Public policy group seeks nuclear records release through FOIA suit

A public policy research and information group has filed a lawsuit against the federal government over claims that it has denied its Freedom of Information Act requests seeking information on incidents involving nuclear weapons, nuclear components or ...

Colorado calling all app coders

From The Durango Herald:  Go Code Colorado is asking computer coders for help in organizing the state’s vast stores of data. The Colorado Secretary of State’s Business Intelligence Center and the Governor’s Office are sponsoring Go Code Colorado with the goal of making government data more accessible and helpful to businesses. Go Code Colorado is hosting a contest in which winning application developer will get $25,000. Two finalists from each of five regions, including Durango, will advance to a final round in Denver. “The state collects a lot of data … but it’s just sitting there not helping the business ...

Editorial: Support ‘right to know’ in challenging times

From the Lakewood Sentinel: The latest developments in digital communications were discussed at length at the Colorado Press Association annual convention Feb. 21 in Denver. While expanding modes of obtaining news continue in an extended renaissance period, it appears while more and more information is literally at hand, the information so important to the public’s right to know is not flowing so freely. One discussion led by experts in media law focused on current challenges to obtain public records from government entities. Journalists’ heads nodded to comments that the cost of obtaining documents often remains a barrier. Heads nodded that ...