Free Workshop on Investigative Reporting and FOI

Great news! In addition to my work with the Massachusetts Campaign for Open Government and Common Cause Massachusetts, I serve on the New England First Amendment Coalition board as a representative of Common Cause Massachusetts. The Coalition was formed in 2006 by a group of journalists who were concerned that reporters and citizens were being routinely denied access to government information. They saw a need for a region-wide, single organization whose purpose would be to advocate for access to such information.

On Friday, May 1st, from 9 a.m. to 3:30, the Coalition, in partnership with the New England First Amendment Center at Northeastern and the Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc., will host a free conference at the Boston Globe on investigative reporting and FOI issues. The "keynote" speaker at the event will be Lucy Dalglish, Executive Director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. It promises to be a very valuable and interesting conference for anyone who is interested in open government issues.

The following is an excerpt from the description of the planned program for the day. If you have a passion for open government issues and you would like to attend, you can register at the New England First Amendment Center's website.

The workshop is for professional and civic journalists and for those who work in related areas, such as nonprofit employees who monitor government action. It will kick off with a session that examines how strong newsrooms are built around a lasting awareness of FOI issues and how access to public records serves as a driving force behind top-quality reporting. Next, learn about the public records gold mine that exists in your town or city hall, and how to identify, request and use this valuable information to do enterprise and investigative reporting. After lunch, Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, will talk about the role of the press in keeping government open, and the threat posed by erosion of local media. Also in the afternoon, find out about two dozen open-records Web sites that are of value to any newsroom or organization that wants to keep tabs on government, and how to search the Web more effectively.