Brechner News

Posted: November 18, 2024

University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJD) graduate Loren Miranda, B.S. Journalism 2024, and Julia Roeder of The Tower at Grosse Pointe South High School in Michigan are the recipients of the 2024 Student Freedom of Information Awards. The awards, presented by the Student Press Law Center and the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project, honor student journalists for their efforts to promote transparency. In the college division, Miranda, a reporter for UFCJC’s Fresh Take Florida student news service, accessed police reports and body-cam footage to deconstruct what happened when a stampede left five injured at a University…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Award, Brechner FOI, Fresh Take Florida, Student Journalism, Student Press Law Center

Posted: November 12, 2024

Sydney Sims joins the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project Nov. 12 as its first full-time outreach coordinator to lead national Sunshine Week and other efforts to educate journalists and the public about their rights to access government information. Sims will coordinate Sunshine Week, which was started in 2005 to promote the right to know in the United States. The initiative is now led by the Brechner FOI Project after News Leaders Association, its initial founding organization, closed in June. Her position is partly funded by an endowment from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. She will…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner FOI, Knight Foundation, Outreach Coordinator, Sunshine Week

Posted: November 6, 2024

A study conducted through the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project sounds the alarm on the perfect storm of factors coalescing to restrict student journalist independence on college campuses.  The article, “Sounding the alarm: Legal implications of evolving college media independence,” was published in the latest issue of Communication Law & Policy, outlining the vulnerability of student newspapers to censorship and control.  The study was led by Jessica Sparks when she was a doctoral student in the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. She now serves as an assistant professor at Auburn University. “Our hope is that…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: College Campuses, Secrecy Tracker, Student Press Law Center

Posted: November 4, 2024

David Cuillier, director of the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, spoke about the importance of government transparency Friday (Nov. 1) in Washington, D.C., at a conference recognizing the 50th anniversary of the 1974 amendments to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Cuillier led a panel about the importance of FOIA in protecting democracy before a crowd of 70 at the George Washington University Law School. “We know that FOIA makes a difference – it helps everyday people and holds our government accountable,” Cuillier said. “We know it has…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Conference, democracy, FOIA, GWU, Transparency

Posted: October 29, 2024

David Cuillier, director of the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, gave the keynote address at a research conference in Buea, Cameroon, on Oct. 25, about the importance of information sharing to address climate change. The conference, hosted at the University of Buea, focused on technology in solving climate change and conflict. Cuillier addressed the need for better information sharing in the world, including open-access research publications, closing of the digital divide, stronger open-government laws, and fact-based journalism to combat misinformation. “We can produce the best science in the…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Cameroon, Journalism, Keynote Address, Public Information

Posted: October 24, 2024

About two-thirds of people who appeal public record denials to the Ohio Court of Claims, for just $25, are awarded their documents, according to the winning research study in this year’s NFOIC-Brechner Freedom of Information Research Competition. Mitchell McKenney of Kent State University examined the outcomes of the unique alternative to litigation, as well as the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, which also can force agencies to provide records without the requester going to court. “We need more of this kind of research in the FOI field,” one judge stated. “Well written and well done across the board,” another wrote.…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: NFOIC, Proposal Winner, Publication, Research Competition

Posted: October 2, 2024

Nonprofit groups engaged in the public records group could benefit themselves, government agencies, and the public by collaborating more, according to a research article published in the latest issue of the Journal of Civic Information. A team of researchers from the University of Washington, led by doctoral candidate Itza Carbajal, examined four nonprofit organizations that are heavily involved with public records: National Security Archive, MuckRock, Reclaim the Records, and the University of Washington Center for Human Rights. The team noted how the four groups request, store and disseminate public records. They found that the groups often run into obstacles from…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Journal of Civic Information, Secrecy Tracker

Posted: September 30, 2024

The open-access online Journal of Civic Information, published by the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project, celebrates its 5-year anniversary this month, publishing 36 studies and 20 editorials with 15,124 downloads. The journal was launched in September 2017 by Frank LoMonte, who directed the Brechner FOI Project, and founding editor David Cuillier, who at the time was an associate professor of journalism at the University of Arizona. “My charge at Brechner was to do practical scholarship that equips litigators and advocates to make their best case for open government, coming at it from the background of litigator/advocate and not…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner FOI Project, Journal of Civic Information

Posted: September 18, 2024

David Cuillier, director of the Brechner Freedom of Information (FOI) Project, is quoted in “Mayors, Teachers, Parent Push for Release of Information About Perry High School Shootings” published in the Des Moines Register on Sept. 6. The article focuses on Perry school district staff, the city’s mayor and the mother of a student still recovering from gunshot wounds who are among those seeking the release of findings from an Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation report into the Jan. 4 shootings at Perry High School in Perry, Iowa. The Dallas County Attorney claims the report is exempt from Iowa’s open-records law. According…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner FOI Project, David Cuillier, School

Posted: August 16, 2024

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration appointed Brechner FOI Project Director David Cuillier to a third term on the Freedom of Information Act Advisory Committee, which provides recommendations to the National Archivist and Congress for improving the FOIA process. Cuillier served two previous two-year terms on the committee, from 2020 through 2024, leading efforts to provide alternatives to public records litigation and assessing progress in FOIA improvements from previous committee recommendations. The committee comprises 10 representatives from federal agencies and 10 representatives from the public records requester community, formed in 2014 by Congress to foster dialogue between the executive…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner FOI Project, David Cuillier, FOIA Advisory Committee, National Archives and Records Administration

Posted: August 2, 2024

The Brechner Freedom of Information Project seeks an energetic and passionate individual to lead public outreach and education in freedom of information (FOI) to advance the public’s right to know. The new full-time position would be entrusted with three main missions:  Coordinate national Sunshine Week, including public communications to promote FOI through social media, written releases, website updates and multimedia. This may include coordination of a conference and other events, as well as facilitating a year-round network of organizations promoting access to information.  In coordination with the College’s communication team, promote the right to know, by producing a monthly newsletter,…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner FOI Project, education, outreach, Sunshine Week

Posted: July 2, 2024

The Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project’s Journal of Civic Information welcomes two new associate editors to improve the reach and impact in scholarship toward a more informed world. The positions are new to the peer-reviewed research journal, with an eye to increase submissions, readership, and depth. The journal was founded in August 2019 by former Brechner Director Frank LoMonte and founding editor David Cuillier, who now serves as Brechner’s director. The purpose of the open-access online journal is to encourage and highlight practical research that identifies problems and solutions in fostering a more informed electorate. The associate editor…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: editors, FOIA, Journal of Civic Information, journalist, research