Brechner News

As local newspapers continue to go out of business, researchers are turning to artificial intelligence to preserve historic image archives.

A West Virginia bill that was set to make last-minute changes to the state’s freedom of information law, allowing more copy fees, longer delays, and more secrecy, died this month before it reached Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s desk. 

The National Freedom of Information Act Hall of Fame is back, under the leadership of the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. 

A recent study published in the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory examined the role of regulatory bodies' enforcement powers in building public trust. The research, conducted across several European countries, found that people showed slightly more trust in agencies regulating sectors like farming, banking, and health data when those agencies had the ability to impose large fines on violators. 

A bill clarifying aspects of Arkansas’ public meetings law has passed the Senate and is now heading to the governor’s desk. Senate Bill 227 specifies what city councils, quorum courts, and school boards can discuss outside of a public meeting. It also allows courts to nullify decisions made by a public body if those decisions violate open meetings laws. 

Journalists in the United Kingdom have become increasingly frustrated with roadblocks in acquiring public records, according to a study published in Journalism Practice. 

In Oklahoma, House Bill 2163, proposes the creation of a Public Access Counselor within the Office of the Attorney General to handle complaints related to denied public records. 

Citizen Documenters’ summaries of public meetings are more readable and useful to the public than agency meeting minutes, according to a study by Nina Kelly, a doctoral candidate at Wayne State University, published in the Journal of Civic Information. 

The Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications will host the winners of the 2025 Brechner Freedom of Information Award, St. Louis Public Radio, APM Reports and The Marshall Project, for a day of dialogue with students, faculty and the community on their collaborative investigative project, Unsolved.

Iowa House representatives are moving forward with legislation that aims to increase training for local officials on open meetings and public record laws, and to raise penalties for open meeting violations 

The Utah Legislature has received the Society of Professional Journalists’ Black Hole Award, a dubious honor that highlights significant violations of the public's right to know. The award was presented for two new laws, Senate Bill 277 and House Bill 69, passed in the 2025 General Session that alter how public records requests are handled in the state.  

The first Sunshine Fest March 19-20 enabled about 160 people from throughout the country – and also from Canada, Brazil and Ghana – to discuss solutions to the most pressing problems in government transparency.