Arizona AG: No law prohibits agencies, including state universities, from disclosing location of CORVID cases. "In times of crisis, government should favor transparency in
the interest of protecting the public." Read the AG's opinion: https://www.azag.gov/sites/default/files/2020-03/I20-005.pdf
Editorial: The public is entitled to demographic data about trends in CORVID-19 cases. Why are some states leading and others lagging on transparency?
There’s a lot you can learn about coronavirus in other states that you can’t in North Carolina
NC Health and Human Services provides basic case count data on COVID-19. Other states offer additional, valuable details on the virus.
www.newsobserver.com
Via @Poynter: "The understanding should be that government bodies at all levels will do their dead-level best to put meetings, documents and data online, without being asked, as an essential part of their everyday duties.”
Alma Matters: Journalism resources for professors and students during the COVID-19 pandemic - Poynter
From person-to-person coaching and intensive hands-on seminars to interactive online courses and media reporting, Poynter helps journalists sharpen sk...
www.poynter.org
Federal health agencies block journalists’ access to COVID-19 experts & information. By Gary Schwitzer (USA) (@garyschwitzer) ➡️
Federal health agencies block journalists’ access to COVID-19 experts & information
It is a form of censorship. Journalists trying to cover COVID-19 are not allowed to talk with many federal health researchers or administrators with...
www.healthnewsreview.org
Nobody in South Carolina is responsible for keeping track of what happens with DUI cases. Reporters for @islandpacket did the homework that the court system failed to do. #datadeserts
In Beaufort County, hundreds arrested for DUI aren’t convicted. Why?
Impaired driving kills more frequently in South Carolina than almost anywhere else in the U.S. But, in Beaufort County, only about a third of those ch...
www.islandpacket.com
Brechner's @RachaelJones_ presiding over @AEJMC_LAWP debate over the meaning of "hate speech" and whether that term even has any First Amendment significance, a vigorous debate everywhere but especially on college campuses.
We collaborated with @NFOIC to prepare this joint statement co-signed by 130 other organizations that urges public agencies to postpone nonessential decisions while public participation is impaired, and push out high-value records online. https://www.nfoic.org/sites/default/files/2020-03/131%20Organizations%20Sign%20Statement%20on%20Government%20Coronavirus%20Emergency%20Transparency%20and%20Access%20March%2020%2C%202020.pdf
We are pleased to unveil a new bill tracking tool that will allow the public to more easily access information about transparency-related bills in your @SunshineWeek state! Click to learn more about #transparency and #opengov during #SunshineWeek: https://bit.ly/2wivN9B
#SunshineWeek survey of FOIA logs finds U. of Wisconsin system HQ takes more than a month to fill the average records request. (And a couple of UW campuses don't even keep logs.)
The wait for public records: UW System lags behind its campuses in response time
A Wisconsin State Journal analysis of UW campuses' records logs found wide variation in the amount of time it takes for universities to hand over docu...
www.apg-wi.com
Column: Restraints that gag public employees from speaking to the media "have surged in the U.S. over the last 25-30 years to the point that they are a cultural norm." Extra-timely now that agencies' candid medical expertise is so essential.
You Think China Has a COVID-19 Censorship Problem? We Aren't Much Better
Are we killing ourselves with silence?
www.medpagetoday.com