FOIA is there when you really need access

Have you or anyone you know ever submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA – pronounced “foy-ya”) request? Have you wondered what the journalists mean when the report with pride that they pried some tidbit of information out of the federal government by exercising their FOIA rights.

Well known to investigative journalists, attorneys of some persuasion and citizens who know and exercise their information rights, FOIA is the bulwark of the tools at the ready for any individual or organization that wants to know more by and about the federal government.

FOIA affirms with certainty that the burden is on the government, not the public, to justify the reason for any information to be withheld from the public; the underlying assumption of FOIA is a presumption of openness. The law, enforceable in federal court, requires that agencies of the government must disclose information unless that information is specifically withheld from disclosure under one of nine very specific exemptions to the law.

The problem is that interest in probing the power and procedures of FOIA is an acquired taste.  Though prime users of the tool are most often well compensated for their time mere citizens should reflect that the payoff for a FOIA quest is the potential of reliable information to solve a problem whether the issue at hand is an individual’s right to citizenship or an inventor’s patent or the location of a hazardous waste site in the community.

In real life, FOIA is the tool of last resort.  The vast network of government distribution systems, including individual agencies and depository libraries supported by public, academic and institutional libraries, meet most users’ needs Federal agency websites and other distribution systems, answer the majority of queries that individuals will ever encounter.

Recently word has come of a tool that promises to be a boon to information seekers floundering in the depths of the Capital information pool.  The National Archives has just produced  an online directory of the records managers in each federal agency whose responsibility it is to respond to requests for information by or about the agency.  The guide lists the name, email and phone number of a specific person, along with a date that the information was collected.  It’s organized alphabetically by agency with sub-agencies aggregated under the executive, legislative or jjudicial super-agency or independent agency.

Though I have not had a chance to use the guide, I trust that it works.  Even more, it bolsters my hope that the federal agencies, in particular National Archives, is taking seriously the commitment to open government.

FOIA sets out the principle of openness.  As a tool, it’s like using a bazooka to kill a fly.  FOIA is for the stuff that’s elusive, shared with greater reluctance on the part of the producing agency, or so specific you need to talk to an experienced pro who knows the agency and can match query with appropriate response.  FOIA is the sort of tool you reach for when all else fails – like a plumbing wrench or a kitchen tool used infrequently but absolutely essential when the occasion arises.

If information is power and if a democracy depends on an informed public, FOIA provides the solid base for the public and those who serve the public to create an open government and an informed public.  The ongoing challenge is to assure that 1) the law is monitored and enforced, and 2) that ubiquitous information and communication technology facilitates rather than impedes the free flow of information by and about the federal government.

Open Government Doesn’t Just Happen

Since my recent week in Washington DC I have been more than ever aware of transparency issues as they unfold at the national level.  And I have found myself musing with admiration about the real work of those who labor relentlessly and outside the public eye to tweak the gears that open the system.

There are those who maintain that the Obama administration is not living up to the promise of transparency.  And there are those who think Rome was built in a day.  I saw progress midst massive technological and political change.  As a citizen advocate without portfolio I am often overwhelmed – though undaunted – by the acronym-laced dialog and reporting from the political pros.

One of the most citizen-friendly activities in which I participated in DC was the webcast sponsored by Open the Government and the Center for American Progress.  That superb program was enlightening, even entertaining, and definitely accessible to the public at large.  It’s available online to anyone who wants a quick review of what’s happening in the access arena – with a chance to meet some of the key players including White House staff,  representatives of the press and good government groups.  Check it out.

There are legions of committed, informed and ardent advocates for access at work every day on Capitol Hill, in the bureaucracies and in countless committees, task forces and interest groups.  Most of their work is widely accessible through the mix of social networks.  While it is clearly impossible to track all that’s happening, my advice is to keep on eye on some of the key players, e.g. Open the Government, OMB Watch, American Library Association Washington Office, Society of Professional Journalists, and, even more important, to stay in touch with the  arm of your own professional or good government organization that commits time and energy to open government issues.

From my citizen perspective these bold interactions offer hope.  Access to information creates a mighty thirst for more access to more and better information – and a profound appreciation of good information at the moment of need or interest.

Still, there is a gap – a chasm – to be breached.  Investigative journalists crave access.  Their insatiable public depends on their access and on them.  What happens when the ranks of the journalists diminish and the owners of the mighty channels of communication fail to meet their monetary demands.

Since my Sunshine Week in DC I have had the chance to participate in a dynamic conference at MIT sponsored by Journalism That Matters (JTM).  That conference brought together librarians and journalists in what must have been the first-ever open discussion of joint purposes, issues and possibilities.  It was a great complement to the DC experience — More about that in another most.

Sunshine Week 2011 Set for March 13-19

 

Sunshine deprived as we have been these past months, it’s good to know that Sunshine Week is finally here!  Though the snow may keep coming, the important thing about this Sunshine Week is to assure that the information does, too.  Sunshine Week 2011 is March 13-19.

Perhaps there is no time in history that open government has been both possible and threatened – in many way by the same forces.  Money, politics, and now the overwhelming and unpredictable omnipresence of telecommunications and information technology.  And, to some extent, our own inexperience dealing with the implications, particularly of the technology.

Sunshine Week is a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information.  Prime mover behind the Sunshine Week initiative is the American Society of News Editors in collaboration with the National Coalition on Government Information. Supporters include news media, civic groups, libraries, nonprofits, schools and others committed to the public’s right to know at the national, state and local levels.

Unlike many such campaigns Sunshine Week enjoys a bit of national support, primarily from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the ASNE Foundation and the Gridiron Club and Foundation.  As a result, there actually is a national staff that produces and makes readily available a wide range of promotional materials.  There is, for example, a Sunshine Week Open Government Proclamation that can be adapted for local use, press releases, and a full toolkit of other promotional resources.

This year they have added the Ray of Sunshine Game which is worth a click.  The game offers a dozen thought-provoking questions and a few minutes of self-revelatory fun for open government promoters.

Freedom of Information Day, one aspect of Sunshine Week, is held each year on March 16, the birthday of James Madison.  In Minnesota there will be a noontime Freedom of Information Day event at the Minneapolis Central Library.  At that event retired television anchor Don Shelby and former State Senator Don Betzold will receive the annual John R. Finnegan Freedom of Information Award.  That event is sponsored by the Minnesota Coalition on Government Information.

A number of national events are also in the works.  There is an FOI Day event in Washington, DC and a national webcast emanating from Washington will amplify the message of open government and the rights of the people to access.

Note: If you’re reading this on the blog, you fine the Sunshine Week website at http://www.sunshineweek.org.  To my great concern I’ve learned recently that links on the blog post don’t work anymore, though they once did.  Unfortunately I haven’t figured out the problem of the Lost Links, but I will not give up until I do….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Right to Know Day

Though you may not read or hear much about International Right to Know Day on September 28, 2010, the astounding fact is that NGO’s, press groups and others in over forty nations worldwide will be taking a moment to celebrate the essential, if implicit, human right.  Since its inception in 2002 the goal of RTK Day has been to raise global awareness of individuals’ right to access government information and to promote access to information as a fundamental human right.

The underlying principles echoed throughout the celebration of RTK Day are that public interest takes precedence over secrecy and that public bodies play a proactive role as vehicles of public access.  Though transparency has become a buzz word at every level of government, organizations and advocates who are truly concerned might well take a collective deep breath and review the reality.  For advocates laboring in the local vineyard there is strength to be found in the fact that committed colleagues in a host of nations are making waves and even progress.  While Canada celebrates International RTK – and the right itself – with great gusto other nations ranging from Bulgaria to China to Nigeria believe, work and are taking concrete steps to promote the right to know as a basic human right.

One example of work in progress is the extensive draft report currently being circulated for discussion throughout Europe.   Access Info Europe and the Open Knowledge Foundation, in collaboration with Open Society Institute Information Program, are holding a “public consultation” on open government data and the right of access to information based on that document that bears the working title Beyond Access. The draft report assesses the current status of open government data and the right to reuse, offering a current and inclusive review of movements, examples and comments on future directions.  It’s worth a look.

FOI Advocates offers an excellent mix of ideas of ways that individuals and organizations of virtually every stripe can celebrate RTK Day 2010 – it’s specific, thought-generating and very useful.  It’s not too late to turn out a letter to the editor, an exhibit or a quick self-assessment of what your or your organization is doing to promote – or inhibit – access.

Rummaging in the US Government’s Attic

As an inveterate rummager I take unending delight in this uber blog, a powerful if understated blog that aims to provide “fascinating historical documents, reports on items in the news, oddities and fun stuff and government bloopers.”

Properly outfitted with the Freedom of Information Act sometimes Minnesotan Michael Ravnitzky and his volunteer crew scavenge relentlessly in federal public documents heretofore hidden from public view.  They then post the most delicious government communications, reports and other documents on www.governmentattic.org.

For those of us who just can’t get enough, they manage a dynamic email distribution system that lights up the mailbox 2-3 times every week.  And that’s a lot of us.  The site does no marketing, is run by volunteers, and averages about 6000 unique users and 190 GB of downloads per month.

Forget the dusty holiday decorations, the kids’ broken toys, the wicker baskets and the bent spoons – go instead for some of this snippet listing of long-hidden treasures posted within the past few days on Government Attic.org.  Don’t stop here – poke around!   It’s like this EVERY week – rain or shine!  A rummage sale not to be missed but to be savored

• Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) Request log for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 2009-2010  http://tinyurl.com/29vcx6g
• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) release of material from FBI file number 100-HQ-403320 Subject: The Mattachine Society, 1948-1971 (early homosexual rights organization) NOTE: Large file: 43 MB  http://tinyurl.com/24qr3xe
• TOWARD NEW HORIZONS, famous 1946 multi-volume report to General of theArmy H.H. Arnold by Army Air Forces Scientific Advisory Group [the "von Kármán Report"].  The best scientific minds look forward to the future of American military air Power.  NOTE: This link opens a separate page listing available files. [05-October-200United States Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) FOIA Annual reporting statistics, 2000 – 2008 - [PDF 1.4 MB - 28-Oct-2009]
• US Census Bureau Annual FOIA Reports FY 1995 – 2006 – [PDF 3.0 MB - 12-Jan-2008]
• Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Office of the Chief FOIA Officer records that discuss matters relating to FOIA, and/or its planning, budgeting, or implementation at the agency, 2007 – [PDF 1.8 MB - 14-Dec-2009]
• Consultant report on US Federal Trade Commission FOIA operations, June 2002 – [PDF 336 KB - 17-Jan-2008]
• Department of Education records re implementation of new FOIA law enacted December 2007 – [PDF 89 MB - 01-Mar-2010]
• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Freedom Of Information (FOIA) And Privacy Acts (PA) Reference Manual – [PDF 66.7 MB - 17-May-2010]