NEFAC, N.H. Open Government Advocates Support Recent Public Records Proposal | HB 1002 originally allowed agencies to charge record requesters up to $25 an hour for any time searching, retrieving, duplicating, redacting or otherwise making records available beyond 10 hours. Among other things, the most recent proposal would limit the bill’s impact to “electronic communications” and include a public interest exemption that explicitly includes media requesters.
Connecticut: Accessing Police Misconduct Records | ACLU of Connecticut Legal Director Dan Barrett and CT Mirror reporter Dave Altimari discuss police misconduct records in Connecticut and how they can be obtained under the state’s Freedom of Information Act. Learn more about the Connecticut public records law in our FOI Guide. Watch all our previous lessons on public records and federal FOIA, open meetings and court records.
NEFAC, Mass. Open Government Advocates Call for Permanent Reform with Virtual Access to Public Meetings Set to Expire in One Year | “Hybrid access to public meetings has been transformative for people who previously faced barriers to exclusively in-person meetings — people who are immunocompromised or have a disability, people who have young children or care for disabled or aging family members, people with limited transit options, and more.”
NEFAC: Rhode Island Public Records Bill Includes Overdue, Common Sense Reforms | “The Access to Public Records Act has not been significantly reformed in more than a decade,” NEFAC wrote to the state’s Senate Judiciary Committee. “During that time, there have been many changes in technology and in public sensibilities about transparency needs, particularly those within law enforcement.” Learn more about Rhode Island’s Access to Public Records Act.
Maine: Accessing Police Misconduct Records | Attorney Sigmund Schutz and editor Judy Meyer discuss police misconduct records in Maine and how they can be obtained under the state’s Freedom of Access Act. Learn more about the Maine public records law in our FOI Guide. Watch all our previous lessons on public records and federal FOIA, open meetings and court records. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive new lesson alerts.
30 Minute Skills: Campaign Reporting 102 | This lesson is the second of two that will prepare you for covering political campaigns and show how this coverage can be incorporated into all beats. You’ll learn (1) how to organize your reporting and manage specific coverage objectives (2) how to immediately begin easy campaign stories and (3) how to develop best practices for communicating with candidates. View Campaign Reporting 101 here.
Massachusetts is Failing on Government Transparency and Open Records, Advocates Say | NEFAC Executive Director Justin Silverman recently joined Talking Politics host Adam Reilly and Act on Mass Executive Director Erin Leahy to discuss Sunshine Week in Massachusetts. Silverman addressed the need for stronger public record laws and required hybrid access to government meetings. Learn more about Sunshine Week and other NEFAC advocacy.
Massachusetts: Accessing Police Misconduct Records | Attorney Jeffrey Pyle at Prince Lobel and Brad Petrishen at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette explain how police misconduct records can be obtained under the state’s public records law and through other sources. Learn more about the Massachusetts public records law in our FOI Guide. Watch all our previous lessons on public records and federal FOIA, open meetings and court records.
NEFAC, Mass. Open Government Groups Call on Worcester to Continue Fiscal Transparency Program | Worcester officials announced that they will discontinue the Open Checkbook program, an online portal showing municipal expenditures. Responded NEFAC and other advocates: “Taxpayers, journalists, and civil society organizations must have access to information about government expenditures to ensure government is functioning appropriately.”
Don’t Think Open Government Matters to You? This Sunshine Week, Think Again. | In a Sunshine Week op/ed, NEFAC Executive Director Justin Silverman writes: “With the pandemic largely behind us, however, it can be easy to forget about government transparency. The decisions of government don’t seem to weigh as heavily on us as they once did. Sunshine Week is March 10 to 16 and is a reminder that the need for open government never abated.”
New Hampshire: Accessing Police Misconduct Records | Gilles Bissonnette at the ACLU New Hampshire and Paul Cuno-Booth at NHPR discuss how police misconduct records can be obtained under 91A and through other sources, as well as what types of stories can be reported once you have them. Learn more about New Hampshire’s public records law in our FOI Guide. Watch all our previous lessons on public records and federal FOIA, open meetings and court records.
Keeping the Light On and Holding Government Accountable in New Hampshire | This Sunshine Week event is sponsored by the New England First Amendment Coalition, the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications and Saint Anselm College. The event is free and open to the public. The discussion will delve into crucial issues surrounding government accountability, featuring panelists who are involved in right-to-know cases from different perspectives.
30 Minute Skills: Campaign Reporting 101 | As we near the 2024 election season, coverage of campaigns will surge. This lesson is the first of two that will prepare you for covering political campaigns and show how this coverage can be incorporated into all beats. You’ll learn (1) how to organize your reporting and manage specific coverage objectives (2) how to immediately begin easy campaign stories and (3) how to develop best practices for communicating with candidates.
NEFAC, Mass. Open Government Advocates Criticize Municipal Empowerment Act’s Approach to Public Meeting Reforms | The proposal would make the format of local open meetings completely discretionary instead of guaranteeing hybrid public meetings. “It’s time to guarantee the permanent removal of long-standing barriers to participation that particularly impact people with disabilities, caregiving responsibilities, or limited transportation,” the groups wrote.
Vermont: Accessing Police Misconduct Records | Liam Elder-Connors at Vermont Public and Harrison Stark at the ACLU-VT discuss how police misconduct records can be obtained under state law and what types of stories can be reported once you have them. Learn more about Vermont’s public records law in our FOI Guide. Watch all our previous lessons on public records and federal FOIA, open meetings and court records. All classes are free and open to the public. Register here.
Celebrating the Student Journalist | NEFAC’s Justin Silverman and Josh Moore at the Student Press Law Center describe the increasingly critical role student journalists play in our communities. In their Student Press Freedom Day op/ed, Silverman and Moore write that “more than 200 of the nation’s counties have no newspaper and no alternative source of credible information on critical issues. Student journalists, however, are filling the void.”
Your Right to Know in New Hampshire | NEFAC President Gregory V. Sullivan joined journalist Annmarie Timmins and advocate Katherine Kokko on PBS’s The State We’re In. Sullivan discussed the state’s Right to Know Law and HB 1002, a bill that would allow public bodies and agencies to charge up to $25 an hour for record searches that take longer than 10 hours. Learn more about the New Hampshire Right to Know Law in our FOI Guide.