public records Archives

Draft bill would create single portal for records requests

March 12, 2013

Bloomberg reports today that two lawmakers in the U.S. House plan to release a draft bill that would create a single portal for federal records requests. According to draft legislation obtained by Bloomberg, the bill would put the burden on the fedreal government to prove why information should be withheld if requested under the Freedom of…

Much judicial secrecy in Consumer Protection Safety Commission case

February 15, 2013

Two years ago, the federal Consumer Protection Safety Commission launched saferproducts.gov, an online tool for consumers to review complaints and warnings about hazardous products. Since it launched, Fair Warning reports, the first lawsuit by a business attempting to conceal a complaint is “blazing new trails in judicial secrecy.” “Thanks to closed-door hearings, sealed records and…

This Valentine’s Day, background your date using public records

February 14, 2013

Don’t let love get in the way of investigating. The old saying in journalism goes something like “if your mother says she loves you, check it out,” and if that’s true for your mother then it’s certainly true for your Valentine’s Day date. So let’s begin our walk through of how to make use of…

Public records in Arlington County, Va., come at high price

February 11, 2013

The Arlington Gazette Packet reports that public records in Arlington come at a high price compared to neighboring areas in northern Virginia. Throughout Virginia, access to open records remains spotty. The State Integrity project, which ranks states based on their level of transparency, placed Virginia 47 and gave it a failing grade. Now, Michael Lee…

Behind the Story: Post-Dispatch mapping finds ‘hot spots’ of pedestrian railroad deaths

January 25, 2013

Photo courtesy of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Photo courtesy of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In December, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch released Death on the Rails, a special report on the surprising number of pedestrian deaths that have occurred on railways. Reporter Todd Frankel explains how he cross-referenced databases and resources to build his own map…

Deadspin reporting of Manti Te’o girlfriend hoax highlights need for backgrounding story subjects

January 23, 2013

The ability to background a person is an essential tool for journalists regardless of beat, as shown by news of Lennay Kekua, the deceased girlfriend of Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o who never existed but became one of the prominent storylines in sports this year. The fact that Kekua was a complete fabrication is a…

Using DocumentCloud, FOIA Project to track requests, responses by agency

January 18, 2013

The FOIA Project has documented more evidence of what its staff calls apparent failure of the Obama administration to fulfill transparency promises, and an upcoming expansion of the project could be a step toward establishing definitive evidence regarding the administration’s level of transparency. At the end of December, the DocumentCloud-powered venture from the Transactional…

San Antonio withholds employee identifiers, with backing from Attorney General

January 17, 2013

By Joe Yerardi Back in September, I filed a public records request with the City of San Antonio asking for their last five years of payroll data. When I received the responsive records earlier this month, I was surprised to find that the data did not include employee identification numbers. As any data journalist worth…

Behind the Story: Colorado’s untested rape kits

January 3, 2013

Keli Rabon and KMGH Denver purchased their own rape kit over the internet to help understand the different elements of the process. Credit: KMGH Denver In November, a KMGH Denver investigation revealed that Colorado police departments had failed to test hundreds of rape kits — 44 percent of the 1,064 kits that Denver Police have…

Court dismisses FOIA lawsuit, upholds secrecy in drone killings of U.S. citizens