Brechner News

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, is quoted in “The Capitol Police Are Not Subject to Freedom of Information Laws. Jan. 6 Could Change That” published on huffpost.com on Jan. 12. The article focuses on the Capitol Police and…

The Brechner Center for Freedom of Information today released a special edition of The Journal of Civic Information focused on critical issues of information accessibility raised by the COVID-19 pandemic. The papers were submitted as part of a September 2020 competition organized by the National Freedom of Information Coalition (NFOIC).…

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, is quoted in “COVID Amplifies Appeal Over Speech Rights of Health Care Workers” published on courthousenews.com on Jan. 6. The article focuses on the plight of health care workers who have been terminated…

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, is quoted in “Florida Wants $17,000 to Release Documents About COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout” published on vice.com on Jan. 5. The article focuses on the Florida Department of Health’s large monetary request to turn…

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, is quoted in “Miami Officials Repeatedly Ignore Residents at Virtual Meetings” published in the Miami New Times on Nov. 30. The article addresses public comment periods that consist of playing back voice mail…

College athletes can’t be stripped of their scholarships for violating vague “misconduct” rules that penalize legally protected expression, free-speech groups told a federal appeals court in New York. In a brief filed Tuesday, the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information joined the Student Press Law Center (SPLC) and the Foundation…

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, is quoted in “Proposed Limits on e-Communication for Florida Prisoners Raise Censorship Fears” published in the Orlando Sentinel on Nov. 20. The article addresses proposed restrictions on inmates’ use of email to share…

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, is quoted in “The Public Has a Right to Weigh in at Government Meetings. Does Playing Voicemails All Night Cut It?” published on South Florida public radio station WLRN-FM’s website. The story focuses…

Open-government advocates and the New Mexico attorney general are weighing in behind a sports blogger in his quest for public records withheld by a state university that has “privatized” its fundraising operations. The case challenges the University of New Mexico’s use of nonprofit “auxiliary” corporations as a tactic to conceal…

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, has developed the online course “Open Records Success: Strategies for Writing Requests and Overcoming Denials” for poynter.com. LoMonte and Barbara Allen, Poynter director of college programming, created a video lecture tutorial offering strategies…

A 2012 Pulitzer Prize-winning story by Sara Ganim, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information Hearst Journalism fellow, and her former colleagues at the Central Pennsylvania newspaper Patriot-News, was nominated for the “Top Ten Works of Journalism of the Decade” awards presented by…

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, is quoted in “College Athletes, Long Muffled By Schools, Are Finding New Ways to Speak Out” published in The Washington Post on Oct. 12. The article focuses on college athletes who have been…