Transcript Making use of the U.S. Freedom of Information Act The Approach

Making use of the U.S.
Freedom of Information Act
The Approach
 Planning,
requesting and negotiating
 Overcoming common denials
 Tracking your newsrooms FOI requests
Documents and Databases
 Health
 Environment
 Weapons
 Reports
 Investigations
 E-mail
 Contracts
FOIA limitations
 Security
and privacy exemptions
 Does not apply to Congress
 Does not apply to courts
Web sites and help
Reporter’s Committee for Freedom of the Press
– www.rcfp.org and www.rcfp.org/foi_lett.html
 Includes FOI letter generator
 Investigative Reporters and Editors –
www.ire.org/foi and
www.ire.org/extraextra/archives
 Organizes resources and stories based on
open records
 Missouri School of Journalism FOI Center –
http://foi.missouri.edu/~foiwww/
 Offers excellent, easy-to-find links

Web sites and help

Society for Professional Journalists Open Doors
FOI resource –
http://www.spj.org/foia_opendoors.asp
 Use its “A-Z” guide to find subject information
quickly
 Society of Environmental Journalists –
http://www.sej.org/foia/index
 Find out what’s worked and hasn’t in its “Tip Sheet”
and “FOI War Stories” pages
Planning, Negotiating
 Who
has the record?
 Who do they share it with?
 Has it been released before?
 The law and possible exemptions?
 What information is needed for the story?
 How much time do you have?
Tracking FOIs
 Keeping
a log of requests
 Document or database requested?
 Date and Time?
 How requested – Fax, E-mail, Snail mail?
 Who was contacted?
 Who contacted?
 Response?
 Careful follow-up
Overcoming denials










Check the Web or just ask
Asking for a single record
Going to a different agency
Going up a management level
Getting details on expenses
Narrowing the request
Planning for redaction
Knowing the law, planning the appeal
Get help from U.S. colleague
Court as a last resort
Guiding reporters
 Create
an FOI-oriented newsroom
 An FOI every day
 An FOI on every story
 Filing FOIs early and often
 Write about denials when appropriate
More IRE resources
 IRE
Resource Center:
www.ire.org/resoucecenter/
 Contest forms with FOI questions
 More than 2,000 tip sheets from IRE and
NICAR conferences
 Searchable database of more than 20,000
stories, both print and broadcast