Brechner News

Posted: December 1, 2023

David Cuillier, director of the  Brechner Freedom of Information Project, will provide a national overview of the ability for people to access government information at the Newspaper Association Managers conference on Dec. 4 in Washington, D.C. The organization represents directors of state, regional, national and international press associations, which assist community newspapers in improving their news coverage and ability to remain financially viable. Cuillier is scheduled to discuss trends in public records legislation and increased government secrecy in the states, based on the Brechner Project’s research, as well as tools to help press associations better monitor secrecy.

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: David Cuillier, Newspaper Association Managers, public records, secrecy

Posted: December 1, 2023

The November 2023 edition of the Journal of Civic Information, published by the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Freedom of Information Project, features a new study “Owning the Police: Crime Data, Copyright, and Public Information” by Jay Wagner of Marquette University. The study indicates that about half of the nation’s police departments that post crime data online through commercial companies grant the websites exclusive control of that public information – curtailing the ability for other people to acquire and analyze that information for themselves. Wagner examined 250 of the nation’s largest police departments and found that about two-thirds…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: copyright, David Cuillier, Jay Wagner, Journal of Civic Education, Police, public records

Posted: November 29, 2023

Student newspapers are integral to the free flow of ideas and information on college campuses. But with campus closures, business shutdowns and student enrollment declines during COVID-19, the independence of these publications is in question. University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) doctoral student Jessica Sparks, CNN Counsel and former Brechner Center for Freedom of Information Director Frank LoMonte, and UFCJC alumna April Rubin wanted to determine how student media was affected by the global pandemic and whether student media has been forever changed. Their research showed that student newspapers have transitioned to a more diverse revenue model and will continue some pandemic-specific…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: April Rubin, College Media, COVID-19, Frank LoMonte, Jessica Sparks, Student Journalists, Student Press

Posted: November 8, 2023

A leading journalism scholar from Cameroon, Africa, will spend the next nine months at the University of Florida developing laws to foster democracy in his home country. Kingsley Ngange, a former broadcast journalist and current deputy vice-chancellor of research at the University of Buea, began studying this month at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications’ Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project. “I consider information the stock and trade of journalists, and they need to have a good quantity and good quality of information,” Ngange said. “A better-informed population will perform better democratic functions.” Ngange will examine how the…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Africa, Cameroon, David Cuillier, journalism ethics, Kingsley Ngange, press rights

Posted: November 8, 2023

People seeking government information to make their communities better face frustrations and obstacles because of high copy fees, according to a new study “To Fee or Not to Fee: Requester Attitude Toward Freedom of Information Charges, co-authored by David Cuillier, director of the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida. The study was published in October in Government Information Quarterly. Cuillier and co-author A.Jay Wagner of Marquette University surveyed 330 people across the United States who have requested public records from the government through state and federal freedom of information laws. They compared two different kinds of…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: David Cuillier, FOI, FOIA, FOIA Fees, public records

Posted: November 8, 2023

The Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information (FOI) Project at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications partnered with the Student Press Law Center to launch the 2023 Student Freedom of Information (FOI) Awards. The two inaugural recipients in the college and high school divisions received cash awards of $2,000 and $1,000, respectively. In the college division, student journalists from The Citizen, a student-run publication at Laney College in Oakland, California, were recognized for their extraordinary persistence in using public records to investigate their community college district’s campus safety program. Public records requests revealed the college’s security guards weren’t licensed or local. They also found that…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: David Cuillier, FOI, FOIA, public records, Student Press Law Center

Posted: November 5, 2023

David Cuillier, director of the Brechner Freedom of Information Project, is quoted in “Curious Commonwealth Asks: Are Virginia Open Records Laws Weaker Than Other States?” published on the website for Virginia Public Media on Oct. 25. The story investigates the strength of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) laws in Virginia and if they foster governmental transparency. According to Cuillier, some aspects of Virginia FOIA laws have less government transparency compared to other states. “Virginia is among about one-third of states that can charge for the time it takes staff to search for and redact records — which some agencies interpret…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: David Cuillier, FOI, FOIA, Government Transparency, Virginia

Posted: November 5, 2023

David Cuillier, director of the Brechner Freedom of Information Project, is quoted in “Access to Public Records is ‘Deteriorating Terribly’” published on route-fifty.com on Oct. 31. The article focuses on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ recommendation to change Florida’s records law to exempt the governor’s travel records. Not only would the governor no longer be required to make details about his upcoming plans public, but even his past travels wouldn’t be available for scrutiny. According to Cuillier, the ability of people to get records that are supposed to be made publicly available has been “deteriorating terribly.”

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: David Cuillier, Florida, FOI, FOI exemption, FOIA, public records

Posted: October 17, 2023

David Cuillier, director of the Brechner Freedom of Information Project, is quoted in “Closed-Door Sessions Endure at County, City Meetings” published on nogalesinternational.com on Oct. 13. The article focuses on a closed-door meeting by Arizona’s Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors involving a legal discussion between the county and South32, the company behind the Hermosa mine in the Patagonia Mountains. Cuillier encouraged government officials to practice transparency. “They should be as transparent as possible if they are going to maintain the trust of the electorate.” He indicated that open meeting law allows for public officers to discuss certain personnel matters…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: college sports, David Cuillier, FERPA, Frank LoMonte, name image likeness, NIL, open meetings, public records, Supreme Court

Posted: October 9, 2023

David Cuillier, director of the  Brechner Freedom of Information Project, and Janet Coats, managing director of UF’s Consortium on Trust in Media and Technology, participated on panels for the virtual National Freedom of Information Coalition summit from Oct. 3-5. Cuillier participated in two sessions. The first, “School Shootings and Public Records,” focused on how journalists are fighting for public records related to school shootings in Uvalde, Texas and Nashville. In the second session, Cuillier led a panel presenting the latest freedom of information research from the annual National Freedom of Information Coalition FOI research competition. This year’s winner is former Brechner Center Director Frank…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: artificial intelligence, David Cuillier, FOI, FOIA, Frank LoMonte, Jane Bambauer, Journal of Civic Information, NFOIC

Posted: September 28, 2023

David Cuillier, director of the Brechner Freedom of Information Project, is quoted in “After a Decade, FOIAonline is Shutting Down. What’s Next for FOIA Requestors? ” published on muckrock.com on Sept. 26, 2023. For more than a decade, the Environmental Protection Agency hosted a portal for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests used by dozens of federal agencies. The site, FOIAonline.gov, has been the key hub many journalists, academics, activists and the general public use to request and access public records. But on Sept. 30, it will begin the process of shutting down. According to Cuillier, FOIA logs, or detailed spreadsheets…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Project, David Cuillier, EPA, FOIA, foia logs, open data

Posted: September 14, 2023

David Cuillier, director of the Brechner Freedom of Information Project, is quoted in “What Are They Hiding? State Agency Quotes High Fees to Bog Down Requests” published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Sept. 8, 2023 The article focuses on public records requests made by the Las Vegas Review-Journal to find out more information on complaints received from people during the pandemic. Some were not receiving their unemployment insurance checks, were victims of fraudulent claims, or received unexpected overpayment notices from the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. When the newspaper requested records to look into the problems this…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: David Cuillier, excess fees, FOIA, Nevada, open records laws, public records, state government