AP president speaks out on Freedom of Information Act

Posted by Elizabeth Redman on January 25, 2010 at 5:41 PM

Journalists should be willing to fight for strong freedom of information and open records laws, said the president of the Associated Press in a speech on Friday.

Speaking at the Kentucky Press Association, AP president Tom Curley stressed the importance of these laws as part of the "journalistic tool kit" to help reporters access information in the public interest.

"It's vital," he said. "A strong FOIA in the hands of strong journalists with strong legal support breaks news."

"Using law to obtain access to the news is journalism by other means," he said. "Influencing the development of the law so that it favors open government is a crucial part of what keeps a free press functioning." That included seeking changes from Congress or the state legislature to make government more open, and fighting changes that would enable governments to be more secretive, he added.

"Perhaps the reluctance of journalists to fight openly for laws that better reflect the spirit and intent of the First Amendment was partly responsible in the years following 9-11 for easing the way for new laws that allowed government to put more and more of its activities behind closed doors."

Curley was involved in the creation of the Sunshine in Government Initiative, which helped amend the Freedom of Information Act and create an ombudsman to review the rejection of FOIA requests where the applicants cannot afford lawsuits. The initiative is now focusing on legislative provisions that exempt some information from disclosure under FOIA.

"The First Amendment, as we all know, is a wonderful and powerful thing," he said. "But it doesn't enforce itself."

He pointed to the changes in the industry which have seen newspapers migrate online and job cuts reduce the staff of large institutions.

"Whoever the angels of the First Amendment are destined to be in the Digital Age, they aren't likely to be showing up in significant force for a while," he said, suggesting the importance of working with online publishing associations and media lawyers, and even establishing non-profit entities to lobby for open government.

"That means the future still depends on us. We - as the Kentucky Press Association has shown today - must continue the fight."

Freedom of information laws in the UK were overhauled last year, and several governments around the world have made their government data more open to the public. The importance of access to this kind of information is clear, both for journalists, and the members of public they serve.

Sources: Associated Press (1), Associated Press (2)