Stories
Sometimes, it’s hard to understand why public records and FOIA are so important to a democracy. These stories will help. (A list in progress)
- “Why so secret, Kansas?”, Kansas City Star, Nov. 12, 2017. An award-winning series showing the effects of secrecy in government. Think about this story as you navigate Arizona’s public records atmosphere – you’ll see some similarities and some stark differences. It’s also reminds us why access to seemingly sensitive information is so important.
Tipsheets
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Finding data on your beat, Sarah Cohen. It’s old, but it doesn’t change.
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The Top 38 Excuses government agencies give for not being able to fill your data request. This is dated and a little snarky, but you’ll get the idea. I don’t recommend using this attitude with government agencies – they have legitimate concerns and you should work with them. But the excuses are still pretty common
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A strategy guide on reporting from the outside in to find and request records.
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Q&A: The Story Behind the Post’s Investigation on Guns, with David Fallis of the Washington post, American Journalism Review, Jan. 13, 2014.
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Slides and a recording of a similar lecture given to masters’ boot camp students in September 2018.
Testimony and articles
- Prepared testimony to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, “Ensuring transparency in the digital age”, Sarah Cohen, March 15, 2011. This quote is from the hearing itself transcribed in the Congressional Record via the Federation of American Scientists:
Today I would like to describe two of the biggest impediments to the effective use of FOIA among journalists, and I detail others in my written statement. But at core, they all suggest a widespread but wrong default position that records belong to the Government and not to the public. This position turns FOIA upside down. Instead of the Government convincing the public that certain information must be kept secret, in practice the public must convince officials that it should be released.
- “Shared Values, Clashing Goals: Journalism and Open Government”, Sarah Cohen, XRDS, Winter 2011.
Reporters had historically gone undercover to learn about the workings of important institutions. However this [new FOIA law in the 1960s], combined with the widespread use of new copy machines, changed both the nature and ethics of investigative and beat reporting, ushering in a documents and data-based journalism that was less anecdotal and less ethically hazardous.