Search results for "Freedom of Information Act" ...
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Tracking Guns
Lawmakers exempted from the Freedom of Information Act a federal database that traced guns used in crimes back to firearms dealers. Despite this federal secrecy, the reporters used ingenuity to ink guns to dealers.
Tags: FOIA; guns; Freedom of Information Act; firearms
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Journalists in Sri Lanka face growing government control
Samarasinghe reveals the dangers of practicing investigative journalism in the country of Sri Lanka. She describes investigative reporting as an "undercover operation" because of government control. Civilians are asked not to speak to journalists and those who continue practicing journalism are often in physical danger.
Tags: Freedom of Information Act; government; Official Secrets Act; Press Council Act; Establishments Code; state-run; Prevention of Terrorism Act; The Sunday Leader; The Morning Leader
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Documenting the Mayor's Office: Years of requests pay off
Persistent public records requests kept Detroit Free Press reporters on top of the stories coming out of the Mayor's office, even after the Mayor stopped returning calls. Elrick and Schaefer discuss the records they obtained, and how they informed the stories. They discuss the benefits of cross-referencing new documents with older records already obtained and analyzed.
Tags: public records; FOI; Michigan's Freedom of Information Act; Detroit Free Press; sunshine laws; Kwame Kilpatrick; Excel spreadsheets; document management
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Scandalous Text: Reporters kept digging for documents as rumors flew
Schaefer and Elrick discuss their investigation into Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. The Free Press obtained transcripts of text messages exchanged between Kilpatrick and his then chief-of-staff Christine Beatty. The two had lied under oath about the nature of their relationship, and gave misleading testimony about a deputy police chief. Schaefer and Elrick discuss the unique nature of this investigation and the challenges they faced exposing the cover-up.
Tags: perjury; Kwame Kilpatrick; Detroit Free Press; text messages; obstruction of justice; FOI; freedom of information; Michigan Freedom of Information Act; documents;
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Cash Harvest: series Revealing Extent of Waste Shapes Subsidy Debate in Congress
The Washington Post's Sarah Cohen writes about the paper's 2006 series detailing government mistakes in the distribution of federal subsidies to farms. Dan Morgan and Gilbert M. Gaul worked with Cohen in crafting the story, using Freedom of Information Act records in addition to human sources including farmers and lawmakers. Their 18-month investigation resulted in the series "Harvesting Cash."
Tags: Farming; subsidies; federal aid; farming subsidies; government waste
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Secrecy Culture: Journalists developing strategies to access restricted information
The author begins her article by recognizing that the Department of Homeland Security is one of the toughest federal agencies to get any information or data from. She then talks to journalists who have experience working with the DHS and shares their stories and advice.
Tags: FOIA; Freedom of Information Act; data negotiation; federal government; federal grants
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Peace Corps: Violence against volunteers worldwide found in database checks, interviews
While scanning the semiannual report to Congress from the Peace Corps Office of Inspector General, Carollo found reports of rapes and other assaults. Thus began a 20-month Daily News examination involving 500 interviews in 10 countries, more than 75 Freedom of Information Act requests and appeals, and a federal lawsuit, among other efforts. The investigation uncovered a host of concerns involving the Peace Corps. Perhaps most striking was that assaults against volunteers increased 200 percent between 1990 and 2002, while the number of volunteers increased 29 percent. Few of the volunteers interviewed by the Daily News had any real background or expertise in the jobs they were given. They lacked adequate supervision. The agency withheld details about some deaths from families and the public.
Tags: Peace Corps; volunteers; CAR computer-assisted reporting
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FOI Report: Summer records work perfect election preparation
In his regular column, the executive director of the Freedom of Information Center notes several ideas and resources for journalists to pursue in preparation for the election season. The suggestions include identifying the big corporate donors in an area, tracking the giving of other major players such as clergy, university administrators and lobbyists, checking the state qualifications of officeholders, and reviewing petition signatures for fake names or other chicanery.
Tags: Freedom of Information Act; FOIA; elections; campaign finance; PACs; donations; candidates
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Privacy exemptions may prove higher hurdle than national security
LaFleur says that the real threat to freedom of the press in 2002 was not terrorism but privacy. The CAR editor at the Dallas Morning News explains that "federal agencies used privacy exemptions to withhold records more than any other exemption available to them under the Freedom of Information Act." Those agencies invoked privacy exemptions in 80 percent of all instances of any exemption being invoked during 2002.
Tags: FOIA; public records; Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; privacy
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FOIA denial study for IRE conference shows privacy cited more than security
A study done for the IRE Annual Conference showed that federal agencies increasingly use privacy to deny Freedom of Information Act requests despite the 9/11 attacks and the war in Afghanistan.
Tags: Freedom of Information Act; FOIA; defense; federal agencies; information; access to information; public information; war; privacy