Ian Marquand, longtime SPJ FOI hero, laid off

Ian Marquand, former SPJ FOI Committee chair and author of SPJ's Open Doors, was laid off from his television job in Montana, another victim of the market that will hurt access and journalism in Montana and nationwide.

Marquand was the projects reporter for KPAX-TV and a national leader in FOI issues. He not only developed FOI resources for journalists in Montana (and is SPJ sunshine chair for Montana), but he wrote great FOI Toolbox columns for Quill. He earned the Wells Memorial Key in 2004, SPJ's highest honor, for his contribution to the profession.

The station's general manager, in a story in the Missoulian, said special projects was an area that they could do without in this economic downturn. It's a sad, sad time for FOI and for journalism as a whole when the best and most dedicated are expendable, when the bottom line is more important than public service. Marquand told the Missoulian that he's looking for opportunities in journalism or academia, or maybe somewhere completely different. Where ever he lands, I'm sure it will be good, making the world a better place!

Chicago videographer off the hook

A judge dropped charges against Chicago Spot News videographer Mike Anzaldi, who was arrested in October at the scene of a police shooting. Police had accused him of resisting arrest and obstructing a police officer, as well as failing to present media credentials.

The judge dismissed the charges and found him innocent of two other charges on Dec. 30. The Chicago Headline Club took an active role in fighting for Anzaldi's rights and also has worked to help inform journalists about their rights in dealing with police, posted at their web site. The Society of Professional Journalists' Legal Defense Fund is helping Anzaldi in suing police for damages.

Judge: identity of abused detainees can be kept secret

This one makes me blink in wonder. The 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled this week that the identities of detainees abused by guards or other detainees at Guantanamo should be kept secret in order to protect the detainees' privacy. The judge ruled that the public interest in knowing the extent of abuse in our prisons doesn't outweigh the embarrasment a detainee might feel for being beaten up or abused by guards (see good summary at Reporters Committee). Wow.

As journalists know, the best way of finding problems in our prisons and other institutions is to talk to people who have suffered the wrong end of a baton or taser (or waterboard). We need to go to the source, which is why victim identity is so important in public records. If victims are kept secret then they are even more vulnerable to abuse behind closed doors. To keep that information secret to protect the victims' privacy is ludicrous, and this policy continues to undermine the trust and faith in our government institutions and allow wrongdoing to fester.

This sheriff wanted the sun to shine only during banking hours

A sheriff in South Carolina told the media that his office wouldn't provide incident reports on weekends when administrators weren't around to vet what information is released. Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner started the policy in November, blocking journalists from seeing incident reports on weekends and holidays, according to a story in the Charleston Post and Courier that was forwarded to FOI FYI by sunshine chair Johnny Edwards.

Here's the good news: the state attorney general issued an opinion saying the policy violates the state freedom of information act. The law says people have a right to reasonable access to incident reports at night, weekends and during holidays.

If your local law enforcement agencies are playing that game where they don't release information to the media unless it's through a PIO 8-5 Monday through Friday, challenge it. News doesn't stop after 5 p.m. and people want to know!

New federal rules make school records more secret

The U.S. Department of Education released new rules last week regarding education records that would allow schools to keep records secret, even with all identifiers removed, if they think that someone in the school could figure out who the record pertains to.

This is not good. The rule change that interprets the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) goes into effect Jan. 8. It's being hurried into place before Bush leaves office, enabling schools and universities to hide information regardless of its public importance.

SPJ and other groups opposed the proposed rule change earlier this year but DOE didn't address our concerns. The department's logic completely disregards the public's interest in needing to know about dangers on campuses. For example, if a student is disciplined for bringing a gun to school, the school would not have to confirm or deny whether the student was punished because someone might be able to figure out who the student is. In another example, provided by DOE, if star athletes at a university fail drug tests and a newspaper writes about it, no records have to be provided because people would be able to figure out who the student is based on the news coverage. In other words, if the information is of such public interest that people would be talking about it, then it can be kept secret. That flies in the face of the basic FOI principle that information that is of great public importance should be open because it overrides privacy interests of individuals. DOE says otherwise - that all information should be secret to protect privacy no matter how important it is to the public.

This is not what Congress intended for FERPA and it appears someone will have to sue to overturn these rules. See an analysis by Frank LaMonte of the Student Press Law Center and the actual rules.

Detroit reporter pleads the Fifth to protect source

Detroit Free Press reporter David Ashenfelter pled the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination today to avoid revealing confidential sources.

Ashenfelter had promised anonymity to a source who told him that a federal prosecutor was being investigated for a botched terrorism case. The prosecutor is suing the government and wants Ashenfelter to cough up the identity of the leaker, alleging Ashenfelter is aiding the illegal leaker. Therefore, Ashenfelter pled the Fifth, a relatively uncommon tactic in shield law cases. Unfortunately, the First Amendment isn't always enough to protect journalists from contempt charges for protecting sources. All the more reason for a federal shield law.

See more at a story in the Free Press.

U.S. general orders merger of NATO Afghan PIO office with Psy Ops

Most of us don't cover beats in Afghanistan, but a story by Reuters about U.S. efforts to combine public relations with the psychological warfare and propaganda arm of the military gives me the willies and should make journalists everywhere more skeptical of military statements.

According to the story, the U.S. general commanding NATO forces in Afghanistan ordered the merger of the Public Affairs Office with Psychological Operations, which includes "black operations" that rely on deception and lies. The story is based on three unnamed officials because the U.S. would not speak openly about the merger. NATO allies apparently have raised concerns about the move. 

Now, it's not really news that the U.S. government plays mind games with the enemy and seeks to manipulate public opinion through questionable means (e.g., bribing journalists to write favorably toward their causes, lying about secret prison camps until exposed). But it is disconcerting that they bring together propaganda-spreading mind manipulators with public affairs, the folks who talk to the media and produce news releases. If journalists and the public were skeptical of military statements before, now they really ought to be wary.

Maybe it just formalizes what a lot of people probably suspected all along - that PR is a form of propaganda, but I have a hunch that many reputable PIOs would be chagrined to see their efforts undermined and their credibility gutted. These actions further harm our credibility in the world, and it makes us wonder what inappropriate shenanigans are going on in the homeland. Federal law prohibits the U.S. government's use of propaganda on its own citizens - but are Psy Ops experts aiding government PIOs in their strategies for communicating with the U.S. public? Maybe, maybe not, but how are we to know given the blanket of secrecy shrouding these operations in the name of national security? Our government's actions continue to erode our trust, reinforcing the need for journalists to be ever more vigilant.

Disturbing trend: closed police reports

Johnny Edwards, SPJ sunshine chair from Georgia, reports several instances of police making basic crime reports secret. This is a big problem. In an analysis of 32 state access audits, I found that about 71 percent of the time police illegally deny valid public records requests. Are you noticing the same thing? If so let me know (cuillier@email.arizona.edu). What I like is how the three reporters below wrote about the illegal denials, talking to experts. After all, police aren't saying "no" to journalists. They are saying "no" to those thousands or millions of citizens in the community.

Albany, Ga.:
“Police officials with the Albany Police Department withheld portions of police reports from reporters Tuesday, reversing a longtime policy of full disclosure to police documents some say Georgia law requires them to provide. Tuesday morning, Albany police staff refused to provide narrative portions of initial incident reports to an Albany Herald and WFXL reporters who requested the reports. Narratives, generally the last page of multipage incident reports, explain the circumstances of the event and provides a context for police action.”
(story)

Charleston, S.C.:
“After years of releasing crime reports in their entirety, Charleston police recently began blacking out names, addresses, phone numbers and other important details from the documents, claiming the information falls within privacy provisions of the state Freedom of Information Act."
(story)

Hilton Head, S.C.:
“Crime reports were not accessible Thursday or Friday at the Hilton Head Island substation and will not be available today or Sunday, according to a Sheriff's Office policy put in place Nov. 3. The new policy states that ‘incident reports will be available for review during normal office hours’ -- 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday ... The Sheriff's Office's new policy violates South Carolina's Freedom of Information Act, according to Jay Bender, a lawyer for the South Carolina Press Association ... Bender said Friday that government agencies must provide access to public records when a citizen appears in person and requests them during the agency's operating hours.”
(story)

New Zealand media, AP, stand united against cricket censorship

New Zealand papers and The Associated Press are some of the media barred from covering the big Cricket Australia tournament because they refuse to sign agreements giving tournament organizers control of their pictures and stories, according to a story by The Australian.

Kudos to Reuters, AP, and the newspapers for standing united against this growing problem in athletic events. Cricket Australia wanted media to sign contracts that would give CA the right to control where their content is posted online. The CA spokesman said, "We're happy for (material) to go to bona fide news sites but we have a concern about it going to questionable sites."

Journalists should not yield to these forms of censorship and control over content, including policies enforced by the NFL and high school athletic associations. In order for getting field and press box access, journalists are providing these organizations the rights to their photos and video, or limiting their ability to post video online. It's all about money. The NFL wants to control online content and the high school groups want to sell reprint photos to parents at outrageous prices (so they want to prevent newspapers from selling reprints to have a lock on the market, even though we newspapers don't make much money from reprints - it's about community service and good will).

If this is happening in your state, stand united against these efforts to control your content. Do not sign these contracts. Refuse to cover the events and tell readers/viewers why. Many of these groups are subsidized fully or in part by taxpayers. Turn and fight, and then hold the line!

Journalism coalition urges Obama to foster openness

The Sunshine in Government Initiative, which includes SPJ, urged this week that Obama foster openness in federal government. In a letter issued Monday, we urged that Obama should:

1. Restore the presumption of disclosure, which was the presumption when Clinton was in office but President Bush flipped it on its head through the Ashcroft memo and Card memo. The presumption should be that a public record is public unless there is some law that states otherwise (not that it's secret unless a law says it's public).

2. Create an independent ombudsman. We've been waiting for that for a while now. Let's get rolling.

3. Limit new secrecy exemptions. Enough of the laws and agency policies making things secret.

4. Speak on the record. Senior officials and aides should have the guts to put their names where their mouths are. Speak on the record and be up front with the American public.

For a more detailed (and eloquent) explanation of the recommendations, see the 4-page white paper online.

Court dockets can no longer be secret in 3rd Circuit

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will no longer make docket information secret. The court had sealed files and even the existence of files until The Legal Intelligencer challenged the secrecy. The U.S. Supreme Court was to hear the case but last week the 3rd Circuit decided to change its policies and prohibit making dockets secret. The Supreme Court decided Monday not to hear the case.

Good thing the 3rd Circuit, which covers New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, saw the light, but too bad the Supreme Court didn't take up the issue and send a strong message nationwide that court dockets should not be secret. To hide that a case even exists smacks of Stalinist Russia. If that is allowed then the government could secretly roust someone out of bed and secretly imprison them without anyone knowing. Scary stuff.

Open government groups give FOI suggestions to Obama

Dozens of open-government groups, including SPJ, have provided President-elect Barack Obama a list of suggestions for improving government transparency. OMB Watch led the effort to produce the "21st Century Right to Know Recommendations."

Former SPJ President Robert Leger and I had the opportunity of attending a session in Baltimore last month to draft the recommendations. I was impressed with the broad support for open government. The 112-page document includes recommendations that Obama instruct agencies to operate more openly, reduce use of the executive privilege, and put more records online.

We hope Obama will take the recommendations seriously. It's time for change.

Where is $2 trillion of your money going? Feds won't say

Bloomberg is suing the Federal Reserve Board to find out who is receiving the $2 trillion in federal loans and what kind of collateral has been given to taxpayers to support those loans. By the way, this has nothing to do with that $700 billion taxpayer bailout of the banking industry. This is money the feds have given out for the past several months, in secret. See a great analysis by Columbia Journalism Review and the actual court filing by Bloomberg.

This is important stuff. That's a huge amount of our money, being managed by people we don't know, being given to people we don't know, based on collateral we don't see. Would you hand over your money to someone you don't know with collateral you can't see? No!

Kudos to Bloomberg for suing for these records, and I hope journalism groups join in the fray. Journalists from around the country should get on this story and request the same information. Write about how this is important and the public interest outweighs any smidgeon of purported privacy of corporations.

Quinnipiac backs down on threats against SPJ chapter

Quinnipiac University retracted its threat against the SPJ student chapter, thanks to a spanking by The New York Times and other media. According to a story in the Yale Daily News, the Quinnipiac administration officially retracted its threat to ban the SPJ chapter from campus if it continues to interact with an independent online student newspaper. The administration also retracted its prohibition of interviews of administrators, coaches and student athletes.

Finally, the administration came to its senses. If they would have stopped to think a few months ago before attempting to control student journalists maybe they would have avoided the PR mess.

In the meantime, I hope the journalism students at Quinnipiac don't let this fiasco make them timid or reluctant to promote First Amendment values. The Daily News story states that the SPJ chapter doesn't interact with the online Quad News anymore, but there's no reason why they shouldn't interact. SPJ chapters routinely interact with media outlets.

I also hope this serves as a good lesson to universities everywhere that if they punish students for expressing themselves and practicing good journalism, then they should be prepared for a national thumping. Journalists can not stand by and let educational institutions foster secrecy and censorship. This country, and its future, deserves better.

Weber State U. newspaper takes heat for reporting about player charges

A Weber State University football star was in court Nov. 6 on assault charges for hitting people with his car back in July. But he's not the only one facing judgment; the university's student paper is taking heat from some fans for breaking the story.

The school paper, The Signpost, was the first to break the story when Eteuati was arrested in October for outstanding warrants and called the coaches for reaction. See full story at KSL-TV