Massachusetts is Failing on Government Transparency and Open Records, Advocates Say | NEFAC Executive Director Justin Silverman recently joined Talking Politics host Adam Reilly and Act on Mass Executive Director Erin Leahy to discuss Sunshine Week in Massachusetts. Silverman addressed the need for stronger public record laws and required hybrid access to government meetings. Learn more about Sunshine Week and other NEFAC advocacy.
NEFAC, Mass. Open Government Groups Call on Worcester to Continue Fiscal Transparency Program | Worcester officials announced that they will discontinue the Open Checkbook program, an online portal showing municipal expenditures. Responded NEFAC and other advocates: “Taxpayers, journalists, and civil society organizations must have access to information about government expenditures to ensure government is functioning appropriately.”
Don’t Think Open Government Matters to You? This Sunshine Week, Think Again. | In a Sunshine Week op/ed, NEFAC Executive Director Justin Silverman writes: “With the pandemic largely behind us, however, it can be easy to forget about government transparency. The decisions of government don’t seem to weigh as heavily on us as they once did. Sunshine Week is March 10 to 16 and is a reminder that the need for open government never abated.”
New Hampshire: Accessing Police Misconduct Records | Gilles Bissonnette at the ACLU New Hampshire and Paul Cuno-Booth at NHPR discuss how police misconduct records can be obtained under 91A and through other sources, as well as what types of stories can be reported once you have them. Learn more about New Hampshire’s public records law in our FOI Guide. Watch all our previous lessons on public records and federal FOIA, open meetings and court records.
Keeping the Light On and Holding Government Accountable in New Hampshire | This Sunshine Week event is sponsored by the New England First Amendment Coalition, the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications and Saint Anselm College. The event is free and open to the public. The discussion will delve into crucial issues surrounding government accountability, featuring panelists who are involved in right-to-know cases from different perspectives.
30 Minute Skills: Campaign Reporting 101 | As we near the 2024 election season, coverage of campaigns will surge. This lesson is the first of two that will prepare you for covering political campaigns and show how this coverage can be incorporated into all beats. You’ll learn (1) how to organize your reporting and manage specific coverage objectives (2) how to immediately begin easy campaign stories and (3) how to develop best practices for communicating with candidates.
NEFAC, Mass. Open Government Advocates Criticize Municipal Empowerment Act’s Approach to Public Meeting Reforms | The proposal would make the format of local open meetings completely discretionary instead of guaranteeing hybrid public meetings. “It’s time to guarantee the permanent removal of long-standing barriers to participation that particularly impact people with disabilities, caregiving responsibilities, or limited transportation,” the groups wrote.
Vermont: Accessing Police Misconduct Records | Liam Elder-Connors at Vermont Public and Harrison Stark at the ACLU-VT discuss how police misconduct records can be obtained under state law and what types of stories can be reported once you have them. Learn more about Vermont’s public records law in our FOI Guide. Watch all our previous lessons on public records and federal FOIA, open meetings and court records. All classes are free and open to the public. Register here.
Celebrating the Student Journalist | NEFAC’s Justin Silverman and Josh Moore at the Student Press Law Center describe the increasingly critical role student journalists play in our communities. In their Student Press Freedom Day op/ed, Silverman and Moore write that “more than 200 of the nation’s counties have no newspaper and no alternative source of credible information on critical issues. Student journalists, however, are filling the void.”
Your Right to Know in New Hampshire | NEFAC President Gregory V. Sullivan joined journalist Annmarie Timmins and advocate Katherine Kokko on PBS’s The State We’re In. Sullivan discussed the state’s Right to Know Law and HB 1002, a bill that would allow public bodies and agencies to charge up to $25 an hour for record searches that take longer than 10 hours. Learn more about the New Hampshire Right to Know Law in our FOI Guide.
Why Do Lawmakers Want to Update the Rhode Island Access to Public Records Act? | The Public’s Radio afternoon host Dave Fallon recently spoke with NEFAC Executive Director Justin Silverman about Rhode Island’s Access to Public Records Act and efforts to reform the law. A bill currently being considered proposes a reduction of fees for records, more transparency within law enforcement agencies and updates to how requests can be submitted, among other changes.
How Public Records Shed Light on State and Local Government in Rhode Island | Public records are one of the key tools journalists use to shed light on state and local government in Rhode Island. Celebrate Sunshine Week by listening to working journalists who use Rhode Island’s public records law daily to share important stories and to hold our government accountable. Learn the good — and bad — of public records law in Rhode Island.
Applications Now Open for New Hampshire CivDoc Training; Deadline Extended to March 1 | Civic Documenters is led by NEFAC, the Granite State News Collaborative and the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications. Through a five-week training program, CivDoc provides open government training to a select group of New Hampshire residents who then collaborate with newsrooms on an ongoing basis to gather essential information for local news stories.
Proposed Public Record Fees Too High a Price for Transparency in New Hampshire | Former reporter Mark Hayward writes: If it becomes law, HB 1002 will prove costly to journalists and news media, which are hardly rolling in wealth these days. Reporters will reduce their requests, either by number or breadth. Editors will question whether the reporter should file a request in the first place. And stories won’t get written.
NEFAC, MNPA to Mass. High Court: More Transparency Needed in Cambridge Brothel Case | The The groups outlined arguments for more transparency in a high-profile commercial sex ring case that could ultimately be heard in secret. In their request to file an amicus brief, NEFAC and the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association explained that the “press’s ability to keep the public informed is premised in large part on open access to the court system.”
Accessing Police Misconduct Records | NEFAC is continuing its freedom of information lessons with new classes on how to obtain police misconduct records. The lessons build on the information provided in the coalition’s growing library of public records classes which can be viewed here. They will be taught by local journalists and attorneys who will provide an overview of their respective state’s law and explain how misconduct records can be accessed. Register now.
NEFAC Suggests N.H. Right to Know Ombudsman Policy Changes | The New England First Amendment Coalition requested changes today to policies proposed by the New Hampshire Right to Know Ombudsman. Thomas Kerr, who serves as the state’s first ombudsman, is considering changes to certain procedures and ethical standards within his office. NEFAC evaluated Rko 100, 200 and 300. Learn more about the Right-to-Know Law in our New Hampshire FOI Guide.