CJR Blog
How ‘the public is priced out of public records’ by Michigan universities
By Anna Clark, CJR Editor’s Note: This article first ran on April 5, 2016 on the Columbia Journalism Review’s website. In Michigan, transparency comes at a cost—and a seemingly arbitrary one at that. The Society of Professional Journalists chapter at Central Michigan University recently conducted a FOIA audit of the state’s 15 public universities. It asked for…
Read MorePanama Papers show the value of newsroom collaboration
By David Uberti, CJR Editor’s Note: This article first ran on April 5, 2016 on the Columbia Journalism Review’s website. In early 2015, an anonymous source began forwarding German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung encrypted files from a Panamanian law firm specializing in offshore companies. The trove of documents kept growing, and eventually numbered in the millions. Seeking help to break…
Read MoreHow two court rulings involving universities breathe new life into the right to know
By Jonathan Peters, CJR.org Editor’s Note: This article first ran on March 23, 2016 on the Columbia Journalism Review’s website. Sunshine Week brought some welcome news for transparency advocates this year: Two state courts ruled, in suits brought by news organizations, that freedom-of-information laws require private entities to disclose their records if they perform a…
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