This extensive, multimedia e-learning module helps new media makers understand how to obtain public records and get into public meetings. The guide features a unique, interactive map that tells citizens how they can locate open-government information on each of the 50 state Web sites. Produced by Geanne Rosenberg, founding chair of Baruch College’s new undergraduate Department of Journalism and the Writing Professions. Democracies die behind closed doors . . . When government begins closing doors . . . it selectively controls information rightfully belonging to the people. Selective information is misinformation. The Framers of the First Amendment . . . did not trust any government to separate the true from the false for us . . . They protected the people against secret government.” – Circuit Judge Damon J. Keith, Detroit Free Press v. Ashcroft, Sixth Circuit, 2002.
Did you ever blog about a town meeting, cover a court hearing, or divulge contents of a government document? If your answer is yes, you have performed one of the most vital roles of the press. You have illuminated the workings of government and helped to hold public officials accountable. With newspapers nationwide slashing reporting staff, there is a greater need than ever for citizen journalists to know and exercise the public’s rights of access to local, county, state and federal government records, meetings and courts.
How can you obtain government records? What can you do if a records request is denied? What about meetings and court proceedings? Are you entitled to attend and what should you do if you’re excluded? Do your state officials provide helpful online resources on access to meetings and records?