FOIA PowerPoint

7/31/2019 FOIA PowerPoint

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Citizen Journalists and FOIA


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Reporters get all those great stories

because they havespecial access

to all the information

Right?


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Wrong


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Citizen Journalists and FOIA

By law, a journalist has no moreaccess to public documents than anycitizen does. Most simply have abetter understanding of the Freedomof Information Act (FOIA) and how to

use it.


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Government

in theSunshine

FOIAFreedom of Information Act

Signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson

July 4, 1966

resulted in similar laws in all 50 states

Open Meetings Laws 1976 +

Michigan Public Act 267 of 1976


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Using Open Meetings Act

Which meetings must be open?

How is the public notified?

Is there a watchdog in the room


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Filing a FOIA request

What falls under FOIA? What does not?

Request documents, not analysis

Form a specific question ~ no fishing Ask for the information

Email or letter Certified mail

Follow-up What if they say NO?


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Sample FOIA Letter Freedom of Information Act Request Letter

Agency Head [or Freedom of Information Act Officer]Name of Agency

Address of AgencyCity, State, Zip Code

Re: Freedom of Information Act Request

Dear ______________:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act.

I request that a copy of the following documents [or documents containing the following information] be provided to me:[identify the documents or information as specifically as possible].

In order to help to determine my status to assess fees, you should know that I am (insert a suitable description of therequester and the purpose of the request).

[Sample requester descriptions: a representative of the news media affiliated with the ___________ newspaper (magazine, television station, etc.), and this

request is made as part of news gathering and not for a commercial use.

affiliated with an educational or noncommercial scientific institution, and this request is made for a scholarly or scientificpurpose and not for a commercial use.

an individual seeking information for personal use and not for a commercial use.

affiliated with a private corporation and am seeking information for use in the company's business.]

[Optional] I am willing to pay fees for this request up to a maximum of $_____. If you estimate that the fees will exceed thislimit, please inform me first.

[Optional] I request a waiver of all fees for this request. Disclosure of the requested information to me is in the public interestbecause it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government and isnot primarily in my commercial interest. [Include a specific explanation.]

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

NameAddressCity, State, Zip CodeTelephone number [Optional]

hi i


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White House Beer Recipe:

Freedom Of Information Act Request

Filed For Obama's Brew

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/21/white-house-beer-recipe-

obama_n_1818531.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/21/white-house-beer-recipe-obama_n_1818531.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/21/white-house-beer-recipe-obama_n_1818531.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/21/white-house-beer-recipe-obama_n_1818531.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/21/white-house-beer-recipe-obama_n_1818531.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/21/white-house-beer-recipe-obama_n_1818531.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/21/white-house-beer-recipe-obama_n_1818531.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/21/white-house-beer-recipe-obama_n_1818531.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/21/white-house-beer-recipe-obama_n_1818531.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/21/white-house-beer-recipe-obama_n_1818531.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/21/white-house-beer-recipe-obama_n_1818531.htmlhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/21/white-house-beer-recipe-obama_n_1818531.html


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Using FOIA

Examples from Reporters Committee

Examples from local newspapers

Student examples

Lamont examples


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Resources

Resources on FOIA and Open Meetings Laws

Government in the Sunshine Act (1976)

Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

http://www.rcfp.org/federal-open-government-guide/introduction

Society of Professional Journalists

www.spj.org

Michigan Press Association http://www.michiganpress.org/AboutMPA/OpenGovernmentResources.aspx

National Freedom of Information Coalition SAMPLES of letters are here

http://www.nfoic.org/sample-foia-request-letters
http://www.rcfp.org/federal-open-government-guide/introductionhttp://www.spj.org/http://www.michiganpress.org/AboutMPA/OpenGovernmentResources.aspxhttp://www.nfoic.org/sample-foia-request-lettershttp://www.nfoic.org/sample-foia-request-lettershttp://www.nfoic.org/sample-foia-request-lettershttp://www.nfoic.org/sample-foia-request-lettershttp://www.nfoic.org/sample-foia-request-lettershttp://www.nfoic.org/sample-foia-request-lettershttp://www.nfoic.org/sample-foia-request-lettershttp://www.nfoic.org/sample-foia-request-lettershttp://www.michiganpress.org/AboutMPA/OpenGovernmentResources.aspxhttp://www.spj.org/http://www.rcfp.org/federal-open-government-guide/introductionhttp://www.rcfp.org/federal-open-government-guide/introductionhttp://www.rcfp.org/federal-open-government-guide/introductionhttp://www.rcfp.org/federal-open-government-guide/introductionhttp://www.rcfp.org/federal-open-government-guide/introductionhttp://www.rcfp.org/federal-open-government-guide/introductionhttp://www.rcfp.org/federal-open-government-guide/introduction

Documents

FOIA PowerPoint