Brechner News

Posted: April 2, 2020

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, was quoted in “How Much You Learn About COVID-19 Cases in St. Louis Depends on Where you Live” published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on March 31. The article looks at the limited availability of COVID-19 case details in St. Louis and St. Louis County, Missouri and the possible impact this could have on the public welfare during the pandemic. “People need to know who’s getting sick and where, for all kinds of reasons. If you just report ‘one person got sick,’ people…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Frank LoMonte

Posted: March 30, 2020

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, was quoted in “Cities, Legislatures Learn to Govern by Conference Call” published on pewtrusts.org on March 26. The article focuses on how the COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated the use of remote video conferencing to maintain social distancing guidelines, but now policymakers around the country are learning how and if votes cast remotely are legal. “Nobody can be a purist and insist that everything must be business as usual when nothing is business as usual, so public bodies are certainly entitled to a little…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Frank LoMonte

Posted: March 27, 2020

The University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information and Center director Frank LoMonte were cited in “Federal Health Agencies Block reporters access to COVID-19 Experts and Information” published on healthnewsreview.org. The article focuses on journalists who are experiencing impeded access to COVID-19 experts because many federal health researchers or administrators cannot be contacted before checking with government public information officers. Many journalists who are concerned about this issue hail the work of LoMonte and the Brechner Center for their “government gagged” research in the context of federal health-and-science agencies. LoMonte references a 2006…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Frank LoMonte

Posted: February 28, 2020

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, was quoted in “Social Media Platforms Can Censor Speech, but Restrictions Might Be Coming” published in ADWEEK on Feb. 27. The article focuses on a ruling by San Francisco’s Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that will allow YouTube and other tech giants to continue censoring speech on their platforms. “It’s boilerplate constitutional law that First Amendment rights apply only to censorship by government agencies,” said LoMonte. “No matter how important YouTube or Facebook might be considered as platforms for public discourse, they’re…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: ADWEEK, Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Frank LoMonte

Posted: February 25, 2020

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, was interviewed in “Florida’s Top Doctor: Majority of Hepatitis A-Infected Restaurant Workers Kept Secret from Public” featured on WFTS, the ABC-television affiliate in Tampa, Florida on Feb. 24. The story focuses on Florida State Surgeon General Scott Rivkees refusal to communicate the number of restaurant workers who have tested positive for hepatitis A. According to LoMonte, this kind of secrecy is not supposed to be happening in Florida. “It seems like it may be undermining public health and safety,” said LoMonte. “You…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Frank LoMonte

Posted: February 21, 2020

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, was interviewed for the Feb. 18 edition of “Capital Report” broadcast on public radio stations throughout Florida. LoMonte commented on a push by the Florida Legislature to make presidential searches at Florida’s public universities a confidential process. There is debate on whether a closed search process will lead to better, more qualified applicants, or whether such shrouded processes will lead to cronyism. LoMonte argues that the potential rewards of closed searches are overstated and search firms may not produce a better candidate.

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Frank LoMonte

Posted: February 18, 2020

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director is quoted in “Students Suspended for Racist Snapchat Messages Ask Court: Can School Police Off-Campus Speech?” published in The Washington Post on Feb. 12. The article focuses on a Snapchat discussion between black and white high school students which turned racist and angry. The Saline, Michigan students were suspended from school and their attorneys argue that the school violated free speech and equal protection laws. “If you have schools policing every social interaction, then you have them in your living room and…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Frank LoMonte, The Washington Post

Posted: February 18, 2020

Sara Ganim, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information Hearst Journalism fellow, discussed her new independent film, “No Defense: The U.S. Government’s War on Water” on “First Friday Focus on the Environment: New PFAS Film to Open in Ann Arbor” on WEMU 89.1 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Ganim was interviewed by WEMU host David Fair and Michigan League of Conservation Voters Executive Director Lisa Wozniak. Her film examines the PFAS contamination emanating from the old Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda, Michigan and how a government’s conflict of interest has led to inaction…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Sara Ganim

Posted: January 8, 2020

A paper by the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information was referenced in “Gag Clauses for California State Workers, Public Employees Might Violate First Amendment Rights” published in The Sacramento Bee on Jan. 6. The article focuses on how California agencies are violating workers’ rights by instructing them to refrain from talking to the media and refer all questions to public information officers. According to the recently published paper, those types of blanket restrictions on government employees’ speech are unconstitutional. “People don’t forfeit their constitutional rights, including the right of free expression,…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Frank LoMonte

Posted: December 19, 2019

Sara Ganim, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information Hearst Journalism fellow, was featured in “It’s All Journalism: Lead Reporter in Sandusky Case Now Investigating Barriers in School Data Reporting” published on the Association of Alternate Newsmedia website on Dec. 12. In her position, Ganim is working with students to tackle “data deserts” – places where government data-gathering fails to quench the public’s thirst for civically essential information – in different levels of education, from public school privacy to NCAA concussion statistics. “The laws that protect, are meant to protect student privacy —…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Sara Ganim

Posted: December 2, 2019

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, is the author of “Putting the ‘Public’ Back into Public Employment: A Roadmap for Challenging Prior Restraints That Prohibit Government Employees from Speaking to the News Media” published in the University of Kansas Law Review, Volume 68, Issue 1. The article is a more extensive version of the white paper published by the Brechner Center on Oct. 15.  It calls attention to the illegality of restricting government employees from speaking to the news media about their candid observations. “Regardless of their questionable legality,…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Frank LoMonte

Posted: November 20, 2019

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, is quoted in “Lawsuit Over Underhill’s Facebook May Set Precedent for How Politicians Use Social Media” published in Pensacola News Journal on Nov. 18. The article focuses on a lawsuit against Escambia County Commissioner Doug Underhill and the County for not fulfilling public records requests made by David Bear of The David Bear Company. The requests were seeking information on who Underhill was blocking on his Facebook page. The outcome could set a new precedent for Florida public officials’ social media accounts and…

Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Frank LoMonte