The Associated Press' executive editor called on governments around the world to support an independent press, warning Monday that efforts to silence the media through intimidation and violence are "in effect an attack on a nation's people." Kathleen Carroll said the media can be a proxy for questions and concerns by citizens and the role of independent journalists is to ask questions on behalf of the people and bear witness. read more ...

The city of Burlington took a huge step toward more open government last week when officials released a wide variety of data on the city’s website. Now, coders are interpreting that data and trying to create useful tools for the public. Thi ...

Open-government advocates are disturbed by a public-records ruling handed down by the Ohio Supreme Court last week. The justices voted 6-1 to uphold a ruling against a South Euclid woman who was denied recovery of attorney fees in a case where the ...

Computer experts in Tulsa are joining together for a weekend of civic innovation. It's part of an international weekend of locally held events to use open government data and put it to good use. In May 2013, The Tulsa city council and mayor of Tulsa adopted the open and accessible data resolution, which provided more online non-risk data for third parties. read more ...

Taxpayers fund the operations of private prisons in Oklahoma, just as they do state and federal ones — but they largely don’t have access to the same information and records about those private facilities. A new report argues that priva ...

A proposal that would allow governments to charge a fee for time-intensive public records requests would restrict access to information and undermine open government, a media attorney told lawmakers Thursday. "Bottom line is public records in Arizona belong to the people. They don't belong to government officials, they don't belong to government bureaucrats and they don't belong to public bodies," said Chris Moeser, who represented Phoenix Newspapers Inc. and KPNX-TV before the House Committee on Technology and Infrastructure. read more ...

Greater transparency in Maryland government contracting is the goal of legislation that would provide more information about each contract on a state website. The Senate Budget and Taxation Committee is considering a bill that would pour $1.4 milli ...

The Shenandoah County School Board responded to recent news about Freedom of Information Act requests for employee salary data at its meeting Thursday night. In December, District 4 Supervisor Cindy Bailey had asked for detailed salary data of school employees and did not want to pay the $700 price that Division Superintendent Jeremy Raley had quoted for producing the data. The price was said to be proportionate to the time and resources used to fulfill the request. Bailey's request failed to draw support from the county's board of supervisors. read more ...

“Sunshine is the strongest antiseptic … its rays may penetrate areas previously closed,” so opined the late-Hon. Robert H. Miller, a former chief justice of the Kansas Supreme Court, as he explained in a court case why government r ...

From The Pagosa Springs Sun:  By Terri House What is wrong with a letter being written by Archuleta County to the Town of Pagosa Springs concerning sales tax? The problem is with the process. Two commissioners saw the letter before it was sent. One said he gave approval. Another said he reviewed it. The third commissioner claims a meeting was held that wasn’t noticed and that the other commissioners gave input to the letter. There was no public notice. There was no open discussion. There was no public process. It’s only a letter, so what’s the big deal? The issue ...