|
|
  |
|
|
Obama deputy: Transparency a priority, but takes time
By Gene Policinski
First Amendment Center vice president/executive director
03.15.10
WASHINGTON — From the National FOI Day conference today, sponsored by the
First Amendment Center, at the Knight Conference Center at the Newseum, some
noteworthy moments:
Norman Eisen, special counsel to President Obama for Ethics and Government
Reform, detailed administration efforts to make federal agencies and departments
more “transparent.” But he said, “It takes time to get an entire government to
decide how we are going to change the culture” toward more openness.
Eisen recited a number of Obama orders and initiatives designed to open
government records to the public. He compared the effort to “turning a
battleship,” and said the need was not just to announce “quick hits” but to
“reset government policy” in the long-term.
In response to evaluations of Obama administration policy that say
information disclosure practice is lagging behind policy, particularly in some
large agencies such as the Treasury Department, Eisen said the focus more
properly should “not be on failing to make the grade,” but rather on agencies
that — while facing some difficulties — are “rising to the challenge.”
Miriam Nisbet, director of OGIS — Office of Government Information Services,
established in 2009 — said she could see definite signs that federal agencies
were becoming more open. But she noted that training, staff size and policy
issues remained hurdles to meeting an Obama open-government directive issued
late last year.
Although her office’s work focuses on making agency responses to Freedom of
Information Act requests more responsive, Nisbet also called on journalists to
help ensure that information kept — and disclosed — by government is
accurate.
OGIS provides both a mediation service to help resolve disputes between those
requesting information and agencies with the records, she said, and a training
and education effort for staff assigned to responding to FOIA requests.
Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., the conference keynote speaker, drew applause
when he slammed what he termed a “swinging pendulum” of administration policy
over several presidencies regarding disclosure of information. (See Clay's remarks.)
Clay said that, under various presidents, agencies were told that they would
receive White House support for strategies to deny disclosure, while other
administrations championed greater public access to records and files.
Related
What has become of FOI?
News release 12th annual National Freedom of Information Day conference set for March 15 at Newseum, with keynote address by Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo. 03.11.10
Sunshine Week 2010 at a glance
A look at this year's Sunshine Week activities. 03.14.10
Audit: Agencies lag in following Obama's openness order
National Security Archive finds a decidedly mixed record in review of how 90 agencies responded to president's directives to open more records. 03.15.10
AP review: Use of FOIA exemptions rose in 2009
Study of reports filed by 17 federal agencies finds that despite president's promise of more openness, use of legal exemptions to keep records secret increased during last fiscal year. 03.16.10
James Madison Award winners push for public right to know
Watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and National Security Archive lawyer Meredith Fuchs honored for promoting public's right to know. 03.16.10
Tenn. lags in posting online court-case info
Open-records advocates say there's no excuse for overwhelming majority of counties not to provide
this service to public. 03.18.10
Immigration agency issues $111K bill for FOIA request
Research group protests, saying it wants list of what's in database on citizenship applications, not data itself. 03.19.10
Privacy vs. public right to know
By Ken Paulson Curbs on release of public records weaken role of press as government watchdog. 03.19.10
National FOI Day
News summary page
View the latest news stories throughout the First Amendment Center Online.
Last system update:
Friday, April 23, 2010 | 15:29:16
|
|
|
|
|