Reimagining Access Rights Under the First Amendment CATEGORIES for NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES, RADIO, ART/GRAPHICS, TELEVISION, NEWSLETTERS, RESEARCH & ONLINE 2 017

ANNUAL FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ISSUE

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

Reimagining Access Rights Under the First Amendment CATEGORIES FOR NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES, RADIO, ART/GRAPHICS, TELEVISION, NEWSLETTERS, RESEARCH & ONLINE 2 017

Annually, the Sigma Delta Chi Awards recognize the best in professional journalism. The contest is open to U.S. and international media outlets. Entries must have been published or broadcast during the 2017 calendar year. Winners will be announced in spring 2018 and honored at an awards banquet in June.

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ENTRIES ACCEPTED BEGINNING NOVEMBER 6, 2017 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

VOLUME 105 NUMBER 5

FEATURES REIMAGINING ACCESS RIGHTS 16 A recent study found that half of FOI experts believe access has gotten worse over the past four years, and 90 percent believe access 6 8 will get worse under Trump. And public opinion of the press is at historic lows, making it all too easy to snub journalists and deprive them of the access they need to do their jobs. So is there any way left to redress the anti-openness renaissance? The answer might be a reinterpretation of the First Amendment. FIXING FOIA 24 The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation commissioned a study into the state of FOI in the United States. The findings: Access is worse; records request denials are on the rise; most don’t expect it to get better. Despite the current state, however, many of those surveyed offered big ideas to improve the current situation. PREDICTIVE POWER 30 After analyzing data from more than 36,000 records requests, Muck- Rock says big data can help FOIA be more effective, but algorithms won’t be replacing reporters any time soon. 16 TESTING A NEW PROCESS 36 Cleveland broadcast reporter Dani Carlson was the first to use Ohio’s new claims system for public records requests. Her summation, and that of others who have used it since: It’s a good first step.

DEPARTMENTS 5 FROM THE PRESIDENT 6 MEMBER PROFILE 8 SPJ REPORT 12 10 WITH DAVID FAHRENTHOLD 14 QUILL THROUGH THE YEARS

TOOLBOX 24 30 11 NARRATIVE WRITING Energize yourself with a new writing approach. 23 WORDS & LANGUAGE Embrace the paraphrase. 29 FREELANCE Tips for accessing public records as a freelancer. 35 EDUCATION The perils of students going live on social media. 40 ETHICS Newsroom ethics discussions don’t have to be uncomfortable.

ON THE COVER: Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., talks with reporters after an all-Senators briefing on the 36 Democratic People's Republic of Korea at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House complex in Washington D.C., April 26. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 Quill 1 ‘… a magazine [that] surveys and interprets today’s journalism while stimulating its readers to collective and individual action for the good ofour profession.’

4 Publisher/Editor 3 Published by the EDITORIAL JOE SKEEL Society of Professional Journalists Quill will review and consider unsolicited 4 Copy Editor 3 manuscripts submitted by email only. MICHELLE WATSON Topic pitches and queries to the editor 4 SPJ Board of Directors 3 are preferred. Deadline is 45 days prior 4 Graphic Designer 3 to publication date (e.g. August 15 for TONY PETERSON President | Rebecca Baker October issue). The decision to publish New York Daily News – New York, NY » [email protected] or edit submissions rests solely with the magazine. Opinions expressed in President-elect | J. Alex Tarquinio articles are those of the authors and not Freelance Journalist – New York, N.Y. » [email protected] QUILL ADVERTISING necessarily those of the editors or of the Society of Professional Journalists. Secretary/Treasurer | Patricia Gallagher Newberry 3909 N. Meridian Street Email: [email protected]. Miami University – Oxford, Ohio » [email protected] Indianapolis, IN 46208 317/927-8000, ext. 216 Immediate Past President | Lynn Walsh LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Fax: 317/920-4789 KNSD/NBC – San Diego, Calif. » [email protected] [email protected] Send via email: [email protected]. Only signed Vice President, Campus Chapter Affairs | Sue Kopen Katcef letters (include telephone number) will be University of Maryland – College Park, Md. » [email protected] considered for publication. Region I Director | Jane Primerano SINGLE COPIES/ Freelance Journalist – Hope, N.J. » [email protected] BACK ISSUES HOW TO REACH US Region II Director | Andy Schotz $10 each plus $2 shipping for up to Phone: 317/927-8000, ext. 214 [email protected] five copies. (Call for bulk orders; subject Fax: 317/920-4789 to availability.) Region III Director | Michael Koretzky Internet: www.spj.org Freelance Journalist – Hollywood, Fla. » [email protected] Email: [email protected] Mail Region IV Director | Vacant The Eugene S. Pulliam National REPRINTS/PERMISSION Region V Director | Michele Day Journalism Center 3909 N. Meridian St. Entire content copyright 2017 by Quill Magazine. Northern Kentucky University – Highland Heights, Ky. » [email protected] Indianapolis, IN 46208 All rights reserved; reproduction in whole or Region VI Director | Joseph Radske in part without prior written permission is KVRR – Fargo, N.D. » [email protected] prohibited. Educators can register with Copyright Clearance Center. Region VII Director | Kari Williams SUBSCRIPTIONS Others must fax or mail requests to: VFW Magazine – Kansas City, Mo. » [email protected] $75/year (Included with SPJ membership) Quill permissions Region VIII Director | Eddye Gallagher Eugene S. Pulliam National Journalism Center Tarrant County College – Fort Worth, Texas » [email protected] SUBSCRIPTION PROBLEMS 3909 N. Meridian St. Region IX Director | Ed Otte Indianapolis, IN 46208 Mail, fax or email a description of the problem Retired – Mead, Colo. » [email protected] 317/927-8000 and current and/or most recent address. Fax: 317/920-4789 Region X Director | Ethan Chung Or call between SagaCity Media – Seattle, Wash. » [email protected] 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. EST Monday through Friday. Region XI Director – Matthew T. Hall San Diego Union-Tribune – San Diego, Calif. » [email protected] Volume 105, No. 5 Quill (ISSN 0033-6475) is published Region XII Director | Kelly Kissel ADDRESS CHANGE bi-monthly for $75 per year by the The Associated Press – Little Rock, Ark. » [email protected] Society of Professional Journalists, POSTMASTER: Send address change to: Eugene S. Pulliam National Journalism Center, At-Large Directors Quill, Address Change 3909 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis, IN 46208. Lauren Bartlett, Blue Shield of California – Los Angeles, Calif. » [email protected] Eugene S. Pulliam National Periodicals postage paid at Indianapolis, Ind., Rachel Wedding McClelland, University of Tennessee, Knoxville – Journalism Center and additional mailing offices. Knoxville, Tenn. » [email protected] 3909 N. Meridian St. Printed in U.S.A. Indianapolis, IN 46208 Campus Advisers At-Large Leticia Lee Steffen, Colorado State University-Pueblo – Pueblo, Colo. » [email protected] Quill magazine and the Society SPJ® is a registered trademark. Jeff South, Virginia Commonwealth University – Richmond, Va. » of Professional Journalists occasionally Throughout this issue, trademark names [email protected] exchange or sell the subscription/mailing are used. Rather than place a trademark symbol list with/to other organizations or Campus Representatives At-Large at every occurrence of a trademarked name, vendors. If you do not want your name Rahim Chagani, Columbia Journalism School – New York, N.Y. » we state that we are using the names only and address made available in this way, [email protected] in an editorial fashion with no intention of write SPJ and include your Quill Magazine infringement of the trademark. Hayley Harding, Ohio University – Athens, Ohio » [email protected] mailing label.

2 Quill SEPTEMBER/OCTOBERMAY/JUNE 2014 2017 It isn’t getting any easier to fight for press freedom. It’s getting worse.

The First Amendment Forever Fund is a sustained war chest to guarantee someone is always fighting for press freedom. If we don’t do it, who will? Press freedom isn’t free. And it isn’t forever, unless we make it so.

spj.org/firstamendmentforever.asp Help us inspire the next generation of journalists by making a contribution to the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation this holiday season.

Donate online at spj.org/donate-sdx.asp FROM THE PRESIDENT It’s time for SPJ to go public

EEK TRUTH AND REPORT IT.” What a chal- So what can SPJ and its members do about building Slenge those five words have proved to be. trust and increasing those confidence levels? Turns out, Figures in government at all levels are making it harder plenty. to find, let alone report, the truth. And elected officials SPJ now has a new Outreach Committee with two goals: have found it easy to scream “Fake news!” at coverage • Identify ways that the Society can engage the public. that clashes with their social and political beliefs. • Coordinate those engagement efforts through SPJ’s Not all the news for journalists is bad. More Ameri- six primary committees: Freedom of Information, Diversity, cans say they have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of con- Membership, Journalism Education, Ethics and Awards. fidence in newspapers than they did last year, according To accomplish this, one member of each committee to a Gallup poll released at the end of June. The overall will be appointed to the Outreach Committee, allowing for number is still low — 27 percent — but it’s the highest more collaboration and joint projects. The Society’s com- REBECCA recorded since 2011. mittees have operated in silos for far too long, and with a BAKER The numbers for trust in television news are similar. shared mission of outreach, I'm excited to see the projects Twenty-four percent of U.S. adults said they have confi- they create. Rebecca Baker is 2017-18 dence in TV news. That’s up from a record low of 18 per- The days of "letting the work speak for itself" are over. national SPJ president. cent in 2014 but a steep drop from 1993 — the first year We have to be our own advocates. We have to champion She is a proud member of the Gallup did the media confidence poll — when 46 percent our own work and the work of our colleagues. mainstream media as deputy of viewers said they had confidence in TV news. For every person who screams "Fake news!" we have head of news for the New York But the lowest numbers are reserved for online news. to be able to offer a dozen examples of "real news" — Daily News and spends her days guiding reporters, editing Only 16 percent of those polled said they had confidence investigations that led government and corporations to stories and helping her boss in digital news sites. clean up their act (literally and figuratively), human inter- run the newsroom. Connect est stories that prompted people to donate time or money, on Twitter: @RBakerNY. Email: even everyday coverage of community events and local [email protected] news that enlightens and informs readers and viewers. SPJ is going to spotlight winners of our SDX awards contest more frequently, and routinely share them with SPJ members and the public through social media. Additionally, we have launched the 100 Schools Proj- ect, where SPJ is asking members to contact an elementa- ry, middle or high school near them and offer to talk about journalism. The SPJ website will have some tips and materials to help guide those conversations. Our Education Committee also can offer valuable advice. I’ve issued a personal challenge to every professional and campus chapter: partner with a good government group and/or a local newspaper to host a community fo- rum, where people from all walks of life can meet working journalists, talk about how and why news is reported, and even vent their frustrations about the way some stories were covered. A few chapters have already created a

Shutterstock.com model for hosting this type of discussion. We hope others The poll also found that polarization in our politics will follow their lead. is reflected in people’s trust in newspapers. Last year, SPJ, as I see it, is the best organization to take a lead- 26 percent of Democrats had a “great deal” or “quite a ing role in creating a more informed citizenry. As your new lot” of confidence in newspapers. This year, 46 percent president, I want to hear your ideas for outreach efforts do. Among Republican, though, only 13 percent had confi- and ways SPJ can help protect and improve journalism. dence this year compared to 16 percent last year. We have our work cut out for us. But together, we’ll It’s hard to believe the First Amendment has become continue the mission of the Society and do all we can to a partisan issue. educate the public and promote a free press.t

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 Quill 5 SPJ REPORT Hilde Lysiak SPJ’s youngest member proves journalism is for anyone with the drive to do it

Hilde Lysiak made national news a few years ago when she broke a hometown homicide story in her newspaper, the Orange Street News. Named after the street she lives on, the Orange Street News is a family production, led by Lysiak.

MEMBER PROFILE Now, she’s writing books in addition to reporting and publishing the only monthly newspaper in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania — and she’s only 10 years old. SPJ spoke to Lysiak about the Orange Street News, journalism and her most memorable reporting experience.

BY ANNA GUTIERREZ How has the Orange Street News changed since you first started I see that your sister is now a part of it with her columns and doing it in 2014? multimedia. What is it like working with your sister? When I began the Orange Street News, I was 7 and a little bit shy. My My sister Izzy does the social media for the Orange Street News, and first front-page story was about when my mom gave birth to my baby she tapes and edits my reporting videos. She is great! But the best part sister. Then I branched out a little bit and started knocking on the doors of having a sister that works for me is that I get to boss her around. I pay on my block to look for stories. Today, I take pride in reporting on all of her $25 a week. Selinsgrove and in having stories that give the com- What are some challenges you face as a young munity important information. reporter, and how do you overcome them? I’ve been working on an investigation on the prob- The biggest challenge I face is my age. Because of my lem with hard drugs like heroin at the Selinsgrove High age, I can’t always report on the stories I want to re- School. And I was the only one reporting on corruption port on. Sometimes the magistrate will refuse to give at my local fire station. I’ve seen first-hand that my me the criminal complaints, or my parents won’t let me reporting is making a real difference in my community. go to some places. But sometimes I can catch people What are your goals for the Orange Street off guard and they reveal more than they mean to. News now that you’re getting older? People often talk down to me, or underestimate I want to be able to cover more crime stories. I’ve me. I say, let them. It gives me an advantage. been reporting on hard drugs recently, but there How does being a member of SPJ help you? have been leads I haven’t been able to follow be- Even before I joined SPJ, SPJ helped me by offering cause of my age. I’m excited for the day when I don’t support when others were saying I shouldn’t be do- have to ask my parents for permission to go places. I ing what I was doing. Since becoming a member, I also want to do a jailhouse interview one day. haven’t needed help yet. But it’s good to know they When did you realize you loved reporting? are there in case something happens. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t love reporting! My dad (Matthew What’s the most memorable story you’ve reported? Lysiak) worked as a reporter for the New York Daily News, and for as I know everyone thinks I’ll say it is how I broke the story on the homicide. long as I could remember, I would go with him on assignment. His life But truthfully, that was a pretty easy story to cover. A source had given always seemed so exciting. I knew it was what I wanted to do, too. me the information, and I was able to confirm it quickly — hours before How do you manage the workload of the Orange Street News? other media reported it. I really don’t feel like it’s work. If I find a story to be boring, I know the The story I’m most proud of is the investigation on my local fire sta- reader will too, so I always try to keep it interesting! I start working on a tion. After that story ran, officials sent me messages threatening to have story first thing in the morning; I am usually done with my reporting and my paper taken away if I kept writing about it. But I didn’t let them scare writing by 2 p.m. me. Eventually, the truth about the corruption at the fire station came out,

KEEP UP WITH SPJ BLOGS: BLOGS.SPJNETWORK.ORG 6 Quill SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 SPJ REPORT but it took a lot of hard work and digging. (Also, the firefighters had their What’s your favorite thing about journalism? meetings at a bar, so I wasn’t allowed to go because of my age.) This job is always exciting. I get bored easy. In reporting, you never know where a story might lead. (People give me free food sometimes too while Where do you find inspiration for your book series, "Hilde Cracks I’m reporting, which doesn't hurt.) the Case"? Each book in my "Hilde Cracks the Case" series is inspired by a real story I’ve What’s your dream job? actually reported. When I sit down to come up with each new book idea, I I’m working my dream job right now. try to make the real stories even more exciting. I’ll take what actually hap- Now that the Orange Street News is almost three years old, you have pened and then think to myself, "What if instead of that, this happened?" three more books coming out and you’re almost 11, what’s next? I think the stories have turned out amazing! My little sister Georgie is 5 I think a reporter is only as good as her last story. I want to keep getting years old, and she is addicted to them. After reading the books, she wants better at reporting. I want to keep growing.t to be a reporter now, too. I hope other kids are inspired like my sister was!

How does your writing process differ from reporting to writing Courtesy James Morehead / Google your books? In the Orange Street News, everything I write has to be fact-based. But "Hilde Cracks the Case" is a fiction book series, so I can make up a lot of stuff as I write. Also, I write the Orange Street News all by myself, but I get a lot of help on the book. My dad helps me, and my editor Katie Carella works really hard to make the story great. There is also an amazing illustrator, Joanne Lew-Vriethoff, who brings each word to life through art! For the Orange Street News, I don't have an editor or artist.

What do you do when you have writer’s block? I do get writer’s block. I always feel like if I can get the first sentence out, then after that everything will get easier. If that still doesn’t work, I like to go on a walk. Then I come back to the story later with fresh eyes.

With so many things to balance, plus school, how do you stay organized? I don’t. You should see my desk.

If you could interview anyone, dead or alive, who would it be, and why? Nellie Bly. She was one of the first female reporters. She was very ag- gressive and fearless; I have a lot of respect for her. She pretended to be crazy so that she could report on the abuses going on at a mental institution. I would want to ask her lots of questions and hear everything about her life.

Do you have any advice for current journalists? If I had to offer one piece of advice, I would say that reporters should always do whatever it takes to stay focused on getting to the truth. Don't pay any attention to the haters. They just zap your energy.

When you’re not working, what do you do for fun? I’m obsessed with Taylor Swift. I also like making slime. “If I had to offer one piece of advice, What do you have to say to people who undermine young people’s dreams and goals? I would say that reporters should My parents are great. I know I get angry when they don’t let me do my always do whatever it takes to stay job sometimes, but I was the only 7-year-old I knew who was allowed focused on getting to the truth. to ride her bike all over town. If they hadn't given me that freedom, I wouldn't be able to report the news like I do. Sometimes I think the best Don’t pay any attention to the haters. thing parents can do is to get out of the way. They just zap your energy.

KEEP UP WITH SPJ BLOGS: BLOGS.SPJNETWORK.ORG SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 Quill 7 SPJ REPORT

Bruce Sanford honored with Wells Key BY ANNA GUTIERREZ / SPJ COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR

NEWS Recognizing this year’s Wells Memorial Key winner, 17 Bruce W. Sanford, was an honor far overdue — as

EIJ illustrated by the unprecedented 34 current and past SIGMA DELTA CHI FOUNDATION leaders who signed his nomination letter. BOARD OF DIRECTORS While most members might not know Sanford, the 2017- 2018

BakerHostetler partner has been a central figure in the Robert Leger, president Society of Professional Journalists’ advocacy efforts Leger Strategies since November 1980, when he began as the Society’s Irwin L. Gratz, vice president Maine Public Broadcasting Network attorney. Hagit Limor, secretary He has defended the First Amendment and freedom University of Cincinnati of information, and worked through employment con- Howard S. Dubin, treasurer Manufacturers’ News, Inc. tracts, tax law and real estate. He’s organized lobbying Sonny Albarado efforts in Washington, D.C., and has prepared SPJ lead- Arkansas Democrat-Gazette ers to testify before Congress at least a dozen times. Rebecca Baker New York Daily News His most memorable: testifying before the House Judi- Dr. Battinto L. Batts Jr. ciary Committee, with Bob Schieffer of CBS News, on Scripps Howard Foundation efforts to gut the Freedom of Information Act. April Bethea The Washington Post It’s because of Sanford’s work that SPJ and the Michael Bolden Sigma Delta Chi Foundation gained a presence on the JSK Journalism Fellowships national stage of media law, and why the Society is a Fred W. Brown, Jr. Retired, Denver Post national leader in the fight for a free press. David E. Carlson “SPJ's work in courtrooms and on Capitol Hill has University of Florida been, and continues to be, critical to preserving the two largest bequests ever made to the Legal Defense Jay Evensen rights of journalists to serve the public,” Sanford said. Fund, from Vanessa Leggett and Josh Wolfe. Deseret Morning News Paul Fletcher “The [Legal Defense Fund’s] constant support of state Sanford has been with SPJ for almost 40 years Virginia Lawyers Weekly and national FOI battles puts our money and mouths and has continued to keep the Society’s interests at Todd Gillman into action.” heart, despite SPJ’s ability (or inability) to pay Baker- Dallas Morning News Kelly Hawes Before going to law school, Sanford worked as a Hostetler’s hourly rate. Indiana Media Group, CNHI reporter at The Wall Street Journal. Now, he’s one of “There were times when things got tight that we Evelyn Hsu America’s leading media lawyers. were forced to scrimp on his fees. I don’t believe he Maynard Institute Alex Jones “As a former reporter, I always wanted to combine ever scaled back in his advocacy on our behalf,” Kelly Retired journalism and the law protecting free expression,” Hawes, SPJ president 1995-96, said in nominating Bill Ketter Sanford said. “Forty years of work in the trenches has Sanford. CNHI Jane Kirtley given me an invaluable perspective on emerging issues Sanford only received two raises in his time at University of Minnesota in digital communication and the dizzying gyrations in SPJ — each at least 17 years apart — while Baker- Sue Kopen Katcef Washington.” Hostetler was providing over $100,000 per year of pro University of Maryland Al Leeds Paul McMasters, SPJ president 1993-94 and 1990 bono work for the Society. Retired, Washington Post Wells Memorial Key recipient, said in nominating San- “I know he spent many hours working for us when Sally Lehrman ford that he is a great First Amendment advocate and he could have been billing much more lucrative hours Santa Clara University Patricia Gallagher Newberry freedom of information attorney. for clients with much deeper pockets,” Jim Plante, Miami University “He has cared deeply about SPJ and always viewed SPJ president 1987-88, said in his nomination. Russell Pulliam the press as one of the most vital parts of the demo- Sanford received the Wells Memorial Key, SPJ’s Indianapolis Star Joe Radske cratic process,” McMasters said. highest honor, at the 2017 Excellence in Journalism con- KVRR In his nomination letter, David Carlson, SPJ presi- ference. He said he was touched and greatly honored to Sonya Ross dent 2005-06 and 2013 Wells Memorial Key recipient, receive it, since the award is usually given to journalists. Associated Press said Sanford has brought the Society much prestige, Named after Sigma Delta Chi’s second national presi- Andy Schotz Robyn Davis Sekula and seats at many important tables. dent, Chester C. Wells, the Wells Memorial Key was first Independent Journalist Sanford has also provided invaluable legal advice awarded 99 years ago. Each year, it is given to a member J. Alex Tarquinio at key moments in the Society’s history, Carlson said who has performed outstanding service to the Society Freelance Journalist Lynn Walsh — including a libel suit over SPJ’s ethics book and the in the preceding year or through a period of years. KNSD/NBC The nonprofit Sigma Delta Chi Foundation supports the educational programs of SPJ. Learn more and make a MORE CONVENTION COVERAGE: EIJNEWS.ORG tax-deductible donation at spj.org/sdx.asp. 8 Quill SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 SPJ REPORT EIJ TAKEAWAYS FROM EIJ2017 BY ANNA GUTIERREZ / SPJ COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR 17

7 NEWS SPJ partnered with the Radio Television Digital News Association, the National Association of Hispanic Journal- ists and the Native American Journalists Association to put together three jam-packed days of workshops, super SOCIETY OF sessions, networking and journalism fun for Excellence in Journalism this year. In sunny Anaheim, California, PROFESSIONAL we learned that the numbers don’t lie — this was the best EIJ yet. JOURNALISTS STAFF CONTACTS HERE ARE THE SEVEN MAIN TAKEAWAYS FROM EIJ2017: Joe Skeel Executive Director [email protected] • ext. 216 1,804 ATTENDEES 80 percent were pro members, and 20 percent were students. Tara Puckey Associate Executive Director [email protected] • ext. 215 60 EXHIBITORS AND RECRUITERS Jennifer Royer Companies from across the country networked and interviewed attendees for two full days at EIJ17. Communications Strategist [email protected] • ext. 218 $5,779 RAISED FOR THE LEGAL DEFENSE FUND Anna Gutierrez A Hollywood-style director’s chair, signed by Executive Director Joe Skeel and Associate Executive Director Communications Coordinator [email protected] • ext. 205 Chris Vachon, went for the highest dollar amount during a live LDF auction — $700. This was their last EIJ conference as SPJ staff members. Marina Cinami Communications Coordinator [email protected] • ext. 217 101ST PRESIDENT INSTALLED Chrystal Parvin Rebecca Baker is the first president from NYC in 35 years. She plans to Press for Education and send SPJ mem- Membership Coordinator bers into schools across the country. Connect with her @RBakerNY. [email protected] • ext. 213 Linda Hall Office Manager 45+ NEWS PIECES [email protected] • ext. 203 The EIJ student news team was hard at work writing, engaging on social media and producing video stories. Abbi Martzall Get the scoop: eijnews.org Program Manager [email protected] • ext. 210 871 INSTAGRAM POSTS Christine Cordial EIJ doin’ it big for the ‘gram! We had 871 posts with the #EIJ17 hashtag. This year’s Instagram contest winner Program Coordinator [email protected] • ext. 211 was Jenny Anchondo. She won with the most likes (749!) on her photo of her and her newborn. Tony Peterson Creative Director 11,600 TWEETS [email protected] • ext. 214 Our attendees were busier than President Trump on a Friday night. We had 11,600 tweets with the #EIJ17 hashtag Billy O’Keefe during Sept. 5-11.t Web Administrator [email protected] Sarah Beck Staff Accountant [email protected] • ext. 212

MORE CONVENTION COVERAGE: EIJNEWS.ORG SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 Quill 9 Explore journalismwith your peers

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BY BECOMING A MEMBER, YOU CAN: • Build your network by engaging with like-minded members • Utilize and debate new ideas about your journalism • Inform and engage members by collaborating on programs and content • Learn new tips and skills for your career • Develop a better industry

It’s YOUR SPJ. Make a difference by joining the communities today.

Questions? Email Emily Bloch, Community Coordinator, at [email protected].

spj.org/communities.asp uill TOOLBOX NARRATIVE WRITING Q Energize yourself with a new writing approach

WROTE IN THE LAST ISSUE about a young re- the amazing scene. I kept thinking about all the beautiful I porter who discovered the critical importance of pick- literary moments you found in real life.” ing the right character upon which to build a story. Now Kocher’s story idea was to profile Misty Lane, a trans- I want to introduce you to Jen Kocher, a reporter for a gender woman. Everyone in the small town knew Misty. weekly newspaper in Wyoming. But they didn’t know anything about her life, and they likely We crossed paths when I taught at a Wyoming journal- didn’t care. ism convention. We talked about her story. She sent me an “People tend to think Wyoming is redneck,” Kocher early draft. My suggestions came in the form of questions. said. “It’s not; just leave people to their own devices. On What’s the story about? a small paper, I have many roles I juggle. I was drawn to Why tell this story? Misty. No one had ever had the guts to pursue the story.” What’s the story’s meaning? Kocher sent Misty an email to say she wanted to tell She plunged in and did the necessary work, all the her story. TOM while juggling other stories and assignments. Last year, “She wrote back,” Kocher said. “She told me that no HALLMAN JR. the story won a state award, and it beat out weeklies from one had ever asked to tell her story. She agreed. Tom Hallman Jr. is a Pulitzer- 32 states to win a national award. "Just ask. That’s the secret.” winning reporter for The Kocher is a reminder that it’s never too late for you to Before meeting me, Kocher said she never would have Oregonian. His latest book, decide that you’re willing to put in the work required to thought that hanging out with a source was a productive "Dispatches From 1320," is become an effective storyteller. use of her time. available at Amazon. Email Even though Kocher earned a degree in journalism, she “In the past,” she said, “I asked a lot of questions and him at [email protected]. wasn’t sure if she’d ever work for a paper. One of her student just wanted to get the story quickly written and move on. assignments was covering a city council meeting, which she But it dawned on me that I just couldn’t do that. I had to find hated. After college, she worked as a bartender and a copy- the theme of the story.” writer, and then she earned an MFA and tried to write a novel. Was it political? “I had no talent for plot,” she said. “My critiques were Maybe. all the same. My stories were boring and too introspective. Transgender bathrooms were a big topic, so too the I wasn’t doing something right.” Caitlyn Jenner story. Either would be an easy hook. She ended up at a small North Dakota weekly where But Kocher didn’t feel that was the story she wanted she met a newspaper publisher who, after talking with her, to tell. suggested she return to reporting. She signed on but quit a “I went different places with her,” Kocher said. “I found year later. She and her then boyfriend ended up in a small out how hard it was for her to make the decision. She had Wyoming town where she was hired at the Douglas Bud- a mechanic’s shop when she was Mark. But how do you get, another weekly. work in a Wyoming oil field with pink shoelaces? The story “I figured I wouldn’t be doing it for long,” she said. “It became not one about an agenda, but a human story.” was just a job. Even though I’d failed at creative writing, I Structuring and writing the story were difficult. was a snob. There was nothing about journalism that in- “At the conference, you told me to send you the story,” terested me.” she said. “It meant a lot that you took the time out to help And then we crossed paths. a nobody in Wyoming. After reading it, you told me to fo- At the convention, I talked about my story philosophy, cus on the name. The name matters. You nailed it. Once I and I drew on examples from stories in my most recent had the structure, I could just go.” book, “Dispatches From 1320,” an anthology of my work. Here’s Kocher’s opening: “I identified with your love of story,” she said. “I bought “The camper was never meant to be anyone’s home, your book and began reading. Even though they were in but the 120-acre spread it sits on is the closest thing to a newspaper, they were stories. I decided that’s what I a home the tenant has ever known. More importantly, it wanted to do.” marks the place where one way of life ends, and another While listening to me, Kocher said she had an epiphany begins. In most cases, a name doesn’t matter. as I explained how I captured a scene in one story. The For this story, it’s critical. scene, all of it observed, was almost all dialogue. It was Start with Mark. revealing, poignant and full of courage, love and respect. Any advice? “I realized you were listening and watching,” she said. “Keep going,” she said. “I was exhausted when I was “You took it all in and found meaning. That’s how you got writing. I wanted to quit. I didn’t. Don’t quit.”t

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 Quill 11 SEE MORE ONLINE Twitter: @Fahrenthold 2016 Portrait of Donald Trump: bit.ly/2xnDEAw 2014 Breaking Points: bit.ly/2hhmC1g

DAVID FAHRENTHOLD

Quill poses Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold has covered a wide variety of topics in his 17 years at the newspaper. 10 questions Like many journalists, he started as an intern before becoming a night to people with cops reporter. He has since reported on the Washington, D.C., police, some of the the environment and the New England region. coolest jobs His first stab at a political beat began on Election Day 2010, when a new wave of Republicans entered Capitol Hill. Fahrenthold in journalism subsequently covered the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections. In between, he spent a year or so reporting about wasteful spending BY ELLEN KOBE practices by federal agencies. This year, the Society of Professional Journalists gave Fahrenthold a Sigma Delta Chi award for his investigation into Donald Trump’s charitable donations. A series of stories on this topic, along with a piece disclosing crude comments Trump made during an unaired part of an “Access Hollywood” interview in 2005, earned him the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting. Today, Fahrenthold covers President Trump’s businesses and conflicts of interest. Answers have been edited for length and clarity.

What experiences in your career at The In every one of those cases, the federal agen- Washington Post prepared you to cover cy was uncooperative. They didn’t want this to be Trump? written about them, they didn’t want to talk about To me, the most valuable experiences were those it. You were always working for ways around the times covering government waste and bureau- official spokespeople, ways to get around the sto- cracy. That’s not to say that this is a particularly ry. They couldn’t kill the story by not cooperating. wasteful government. What I mean is that a lot of the time, you’re writing about a federal agency I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you about the that was doing something that was, for lack of a Washington Post’s fairly new tagline, "De- better word, stupid. mocracy Dies in Darkness." Are there any The National Raisin Reserve, I wrote about other taglines you would use to describe the that. The USDA was forcing magicians who kind of reporting you and your colleagues would pull rabbits out of hats to get licenses for are tackling right now? the rabbits. I wrote about this thing that was an I think what you’re seeing from us is account- underground paperwork mine in Pennsylvania, ability. This is an administration that, more than like an actual underground mine full of file cabi- usual, wants to be judged for what it intends to nets that OPM (U.S. Office of Personnel Manage- do, what it says it does, rather than the actual ment) operated. substance of its actions. What we’re doing is 12 Quill SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 showing the reality behind an administration that it and write about how it works and what you’re Pick a job where you are the only person, or one of sometimes doesn’t want to acknowledge reality doing to make it better,” and they were like, “No, the only two people, on the story. Go someplace or be judged by reality. you can’t come in.” where you can have that experience of develop- I think they thought, “We’ll kill this story being your own antennae for stories and developing What was it like to win a Pulitzer? cause how can you write a story about the caves your own sense of what really matters. And also It was amazing. The actual experience was even if you can’t go into the caves?” So I found people you’re in a place where you’re very accountable more overwhelming than I anticipated. The cool who used to work in the mine. From talking to to your sources. part about it has been that I get to be kind of a them, I could draw you a map, after all this report- Think about how you make a conscious ef- mascot for journalism at a time when people re- ing, of all the different rooms in the cave and all fort to organize your information. Think about the ally care about it — when journalists feel like the processes of who gave what paper to whom, methods you use to organize notes, documents, what they’re doing is both important but also un- why it was so slow. statistics. Learn how to do that both for a story der attack, and when regular readers are seeing I found records from the [U.S.] Government but also to build a permanent record that you can the value of journalism in a way that maybe they Accountability Office, congressional records go- refer back to. didn’t used to before. ing back to the '70s, that showed that the slow- Learn about yourself. What are the things that downs in the system today are the same slow- handicap you when you’re on your own reporting The release of the "Access Hollywood" video downs that were in 1978. I came back to OPM a story? For me, it’s caffeine. If I run out of caf- was a challenge to the Trump campaign at a and said, “You’re not preventing me from telling feine, I don’t give a crap about whatever you’re time when many were calling for him to step that story. You can let me into the cave, and you telling me. Bigfoot stole your car, I don’t care. I’ve down from his nomination. Are you surprised can talk about what you’re doing to make it work learned that about myself and that when I’m on that it didn’t sway more voters in the end? better and why it has to be this way.” And they the road, I have to make sure I’m fully caffeinated No, I wasn’t. Even the day that story came out, did, they let me in. all the time or I just cease caring.. when it got all that attention, I didn’t think, “This is the end of Donald Trump.” I didn’t think going In what ways do you think Trump’s adminis- When you have time to unplug from work, into it that it was going to be something that was tration has reinvigorated journalism in the what do you do to enjoy yourself? going to change people’s minds if their minds public’s view? I have two little girls, and I spend a lot of time hadn’t been changed already. Presidential cam- I think it’s really invigorating the public interest with them, and not much else. My 5-year-old paigns are just too complicated. Especially that in journalism just because people — from the daughter and I do a lot of Meals on Wheels de- one, there are too many other things going on. attacks on journalism and its credibility — they livery, and I run. t see us now in a way they used to not see You’ve obviously had to use FOIA and find us before. They just saw the news and didn’t public records throughout your career, and think about how the news got to you and certainly to inform a lot of your reporting in what was involved in digging up the truth. I covering Trump’s donations to charities and think they appreciate that a lot more, which his business interests. What is your strategy is great, and are willing to pay for it now, in deciding what information to look for? which is even better. The thing that I find challenging is organizing the information. It’s easy to get a lot of infor- What issues would you like to see jour- mation, but to sort of track it and remember it nalists explore more deeply involving and see connections between things, that was this administration or any other topic? the challenge of last year, and it’s been the During the health care debate, you remem- challenge of this year. ber how many iterations of the health care Last year, by the end, I had a little niche, the bill it took. I feel like our reporters and Trump charity niche, and I knew everything there other people did a really good job explain- was to know about that little thing. Now covering what all of that was. Reporters kept ing the Trump organization, it’s much more com- up with not just the politics of it but with plicated — a lot of properties, a lot of different the policy. I felt like people were always businesses. well-informed on how these policies would work, and I hope that we keep Can you recall a time where you’ve had a doing that as we get into tax reform or challenge in fighting for information you whatever else. needed? If so, how did you handle that? That story about the underground paperwork What tips would you offer stu- mine I wrote back in 2014. It’s owned by the Of- dents and young journalists who fice of Personnel Management, and I called them are interested in doing the type and said “I heard you operate a giant under- of investigative work that you’re ground cavern full of file cabinets. I want to see doing? SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 Quill 13 14 Quill SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 THROUGH THE YEARS...

NOTES ON: November 1978 SUBSCRIPTION RATE: $1 per issue, $10 a year THE JOINING OF JOURNALISTS In 1978, almost every journalist in the country was either a member of one or more journalism organizations or was represented by the organization for which they worked. This special edition of Quill focuses on the benefits of belonging to organizations, like SPJ, and what the organizations were working for: fighting for the people’s right to know, upholding journalistic standards and providing information, education, training and scholarships. (Sound familiar?) THE RIGHT TO KNOW “At one time, the organizations were known more for their social functions than their legal and public-opinion-marshaling prowess, but all that has changed,” Warren K. Agee wrote. “Scarred by in- numerable punches in congressional, executive, legislative, city council, county commissioner and courtroom brawls, the organizations have learned to fight together in the struggle for freedom of information — the proclaimed people’s right to know.” Richard Schmidt, the American Society of Newspaper Editors

"The Joining of Journalists" illustration by Kenneth Stark legal counsel at the time, said the battle will never be finished for freedom of information. Journalism groups worked together to seek passage of sunshine laws, reach free-press fair-trial agree- ments with the American Bar Association, open courtrooms to still photo and TV coverage, and combat censorship measures — all things that we’re still working on. ETHICS AND STANDARDS According to Agee, the 1970s was the decade of ethics and professionalism. Organizations like the Associated Press Managing Editors Association, Public Relations Society of America, American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi, all started considering media ethics at that time. In 1973, SPJ created and established a Code of Ethics that closely resembles the code you know today. “Most professional journalism organizations have adopted these codes and expect their members to live up to them,” Agee wrote. “It is clear as more personal introspection comes into practice that only by subscribing to such guidelines will journalists help raise the level of public trust in the media.” This edition of Quill also included a directory of many of the world’s journalism organizations.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: • The Radio Television News Directors Association held a “ca- • The fight goes on for cameras in the courtroom. The Central reer crisis” panel at its annual convention; it focused on news Florida chapter filed a brief with the state supreme court recom- directors and ratings. The panel discussed what to do if you’ve mending the yearlong cameras in the courtroom experiment to been laid off and recommended thinking twice before leaving be a permanent policy for Florida courts. the news industry.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 Quill 15 REIMAGINING ACCESS RIGHTS UNDER THE FIRST AMENDMENT

BY JONATHAN PETERS e are living through an an- neither invited nor notified. Oh, and West Virgin- ti-openness renaissance. ia police arrested a reporter at the state capitol In June, on the eve of the who followed Health and Human Services Secre- special election in the Geor- tary Tom Price through the hallways and asked gia Six, as it came to be him whether domestic violence would be a pre- known,W Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff excluded existing condition under the GOP’s health care a reporter for the conservative Washington Free legislation. Beacon from a campaign event, while Republican But that’s not all. candidate Karen Handel gave the same treatment In February, then-White House press secretary to a reporter for the liberal site ThinkProgress. Sean Spicer excluded from an off-camera brief- In May, President Donald Trump did not hold ing journalists for The New York Times, BuzzFeed a single press conference during a nine-day trip News, CNN, the Los Angeles Times, Politico and to Europe and the Middle East, and weeks earlier The Huffington Post, among others. Both the As- he threatened to cancel all White House press sociated Press and Time magazine protested by briefings. Around the same time, Secretary of refusing to attend, and CNN tweeted that the ex- State Rex Tillerson met with the local press dur- clusion was an "unacceptable” move by the White ing a trip to Saudi Arabia, but the U.S. press was House and appeared to be “how they retaliate

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 27. (Oliver Contreras / Sipa USA via AP Images)

16 Quill SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 Quill 17 when you report facts they don't like.” to be clear: Trump didn’t create this re- ception that government officials, from Spicer said he had to leave out those or- naissance. He and his aides have con- presidents to school board members, try ganizations because of space constraints, tributed to it in dramatic and significant to parry the press and limit their expo- after inviting other organizations new to ways, but it has been developing for sure. That has long been a hallmark of the White House, such as Breitbart and years. President Barack Obama famous- public-affairs journalism. One America News Network. ly promised to run the “most transpar- SPJ has been studying the broader And before that, some federal agen- ent” administration in U.S. history, but problem of censorship by public infor- cies directed their employees not to re- his record was mixed. His administra- mation officers, too, which is the govern- lease information about their programs tion spent, in its final year, a record $36.2 ment practice, seemingly on the rise, of prohibiting public employees from talk- Indeed, it’s more the rule than the exception that ing with journalists in the absence of government officials, from presidents to school board PIO permission and/or consultation. “Whether it’s being told to call a gen- members, try to parry the press and limit their eral communications line, contact a exposure. That has long been a hallmark of public- spokesperson or send questions through affairs journalism. a public information officer, in many instances, journalists are not allowed to and activities to the press and public. For million on legal costs to defend FOIA de- speak to people intimately involved in example, the AP obtained an email sent nials, and it aggressively used the state the issues they cover,” according to SPJ’s to Environmental Protection Agency staff secrets privilege, all while prosecuting webpage on PIOs. after the inauguration that set out prohi- an unprecedented number of leakers un- SPJ has sponsored a series of surveys bitions on press releases, blog posts and der the Espionage Act. conducted by Carolyn Carlson, an as- social media updates. Similarly, the U.S. Before that, the Bush administration sociate professor of communication at Department of Agriculture told its re- was pathologically secretive, circulat- Kennesaw State University, that showed search service not to release “public- ing a memo after the 9/11 attacks, for ex- how pervasive the PIO controls have be- facing documents,” including “news re- ample, suggesting that executive-branch come. Here are two of the findings: leases, photos, fact sheets, news feeds agencies should use the Freedom of In- First, 75 percent of reporters who cov- and social media content.” The admin- formation Act’s exemptions to deny any er federal agencies must get approval istration framed those actions as pauses requests they could. And to a lesser ex- from PIOs before interviewing agency needed to give the agencies, under new tent, presidents Clinton, Bush, Reagan, employees. Second, 40 percent of PIOs leadership, the time to settle in. Carter — and beyond — all made efforts at various levels said they have blocked The list goes on. This is just a sample to minimize their public scrutiny. specific reporters from talking to employ- of recent anti-openness incidents, and Indeed, it’s more the rule than the ex- ees because of problematic coverage.

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP

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18 Quill SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., foreground left, addresses the media in front of the New York Times offices Feb. 25 in New York. Maloney voiced outrage over the White House decision to block The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, CNN, Politico and others from a press briefing in Washington on Feb. 24. Maloney wants the Trump administration to commit to a policy of press access for all. The Democrat says standards should apply evenly to all news organizations. (AP Photo/Julie Walker)

SPJ sent letters to the White House — cess has gotten worse over the past four enables reporters and citizens alike to first during Obama’s presidency, then years, and 90 percent believe access will request and obtain agency records that Trump’s — expressing concerns about get worse under Trump. And public opin- shed light on government activities. And such practices. It also led a coalition of ion of the press is at historic lows, mak- the federal Government in Sunshine Act, journalists to meet with Obama’s press ing it all too easy to snub journalists and signed into law in 1976, requires various secretary in 2015. The coalition was deprive them of the access they need to commissions and agencies to hold their promised a response but never got one. do their jobs. So is there any way left to official meetings in public. All of which has major implications redress the anti-openness renaissance? States have their own versions of not only for journalism but also for pub- The answer might be a reinterpreta- such laws. They’re all designed, at least lic understanding of government activi- tion of the First Amendment. in theory, to protect transparency in ser- ties. News organizations can’t fulfill their vice of accountability. democratic role — of helping people par- MEANINGFUL ACCESS AND The First Amendment is a fickler ticipate in public life and be engaged — EFFECTIVE NEWSGATHERING source of access rights. In the 1972 case if they lack the access needed to report Public-affairs reporting is facilitated Branzburg v. Hayes, the Supreme Court meaningfully on their communities. It’s by a complex system of access rights, held that there was no general First untenable for reporters to be frozen out derived from state and federal public- Amendment right for a reporter to refuse of interviews, press briefings, campaign records laws and open-meetings laws, to testify before a grand jury about his events and more. But what can be done? and from judicial recognitions of ac- or her confidential sources, an obvious Is it too late to reverse these trends? cess rights under the First Amendment. blow to the theory that the First Amend- A recent Knight Foundation study For example, the federal Freedom of In- ment provided newsgathering rights. found that half of FOI experts believe ac- formation Act, signed into law in 1966, However, Justice Byron White, writing

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 Quill 19 Join SPJ with low monthly payments!

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for three other members of the court, Chief Justice Warren Burger, who wrote the press — and so far the lower courts reasoned that “without some protection the opinion, observed, “Neither the First have converged around the principle for seeking out the news, freedom of the Amendment nor the Fourteenth Amend- that such a right exists. The leading case press could be eviscerated.” ment mandates a right of access to gov- to recognize it was Sherrill v. Knight, de- The problem is that the court did ernment information or sources of infor- cided in 1977 by the influential U.S. Court not define or discuss what it meant by mation within the government’s control.” of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. “some protection,” and White’s comment But then, in 1980, in a case many com- Sherrill was a writer for The Nation, was dictum, a legal term for a statement mentators hailed as the genesis of a and he sued various government of- that was not essential to a decision and constitutional “right to know,” the court fices after he was denied a White House thus not authoritative. appeared to reconsider some of the logic press pass. Ultimately, the D.C. Circuit Over the next six years, the court of Pell, Saxbe and Houchins — ruling said Sherrill had a First Amendment seemed to reinforce the idea that the First in Richmond Newspapers v. Virginia right of access to White House news Amendment played an insignificant role that the press and public have the First conferences because they were "gener- in guaranteeing access rights — in three Amendment right to attend criminal tri- ally inclusive" of the press. cases exploring whether journalists had als. Since then, the justices explicitly “[T]he White House has voluntarily the First Amendment right to gather news have recognized access rights in mul- decided to establish press facilities in prisons. In the 1974 cases Pell v. Procu- tiple cases, but each one involved a judi- for correspondents who need to report nier and Saxbe v. Washington Post Co., cial proceeding. In other contexts, consti- therefrom,” Judge Carl E. McGowan the justices ruled that journalists had no tutional access rights are less clear, and wrote for a unanimous panel. “These special right of access to prisons to con- the Supreme Court’s inattention to this press facilities are perceived as be- duct interviews with specific inmates. area and analytical inconsistency have ing open to all bona fide Washington- Just four years later, in the case Houchins left the lower courts to do the hard work. based journalists. ... [That] requires that v. KQED, the court upheld restrictions on A recurring question is whether a jour- this access not be denied arbitrarily or prison visits applied to a TV station that nalist has a First Amendment right of for less than compelling reasons. Not wanted to see a particular block where access to information or places that are only newsmen and the publications for an inmate committed suicide. closed to the public but open generally to which they write, but also the public

20 Quill SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 at large have an interest protected by among others. In 2006, the U.S. Court of article that it is “exceedingly permis- the First Amendment in assuring that Appeals for the 4th Circuit found that sive,” allowing clever officials to block restrictions on news gathering be no Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. did a reporter from an event “by simply re- more arduous than necessary, and that not violate the First Amendment rights labeling an ‘open’ event as ‘invite-only.’” individual newsmen not be arbitrarily of two Baltimore Sun reporters when he And the approach’s ambiguity — focus- excluded from sources of information.” directed state employees not to commu- ing on whether access was “generally The Sherrill opinion made clear that nicate with them because he did not ap- inclusive” of the press — can be a puzzle. it did not interfere with "the discretion preciate their reporting. “What does ‘generally’ mean?” Milli- of the President to grant interviews or “It is common knowledge that reporting gan wondered. “And how will courts dis- briefings with selected journalists.” The is highly competitive, and reporters culti- cern the relevant market of reporters?” critical fact was whether access was vate access — sometimes exclusive ac- So, it might be time to reimagine ac- “generally inclusive” of the press, in cess — to sources, including government cess under the First Amendment, seeing which case excluding a journalist arbitrarily or absent good cause would im- Free expression and information access — indispensable plicate the First Amendment. to inclusive knowledge societies — lie at the heart of As the Sherrill court observed, "It American democratic life, which demands that citizens would certainly be unreasonable to sug- gest that because the President allows be informed to participate in public affairs. That kind of interviews with some bona fide journal- informed participation can increase government efficien- ists, he must give this opportunity to all." cy, reduce its corruption and build or maintain civic trust. The lower courts have used that approach — protecting journalistic access officials,” Judge Paul V. Niemeyer wrote. that meaningful access and effective where it’s “generally inclusive” of the “Public officials routinely select among newsgathering — in all forms but espe- press, while otherwise allowing public reporters when granting interviews or pro- cially in obtaining information from pub- officials selectively to grant interviews viding access to nonpublic information.” lic officials — require greater access than and give out information — in many con- This approach has its problems. Luke FOI laws and the First Amendment now texts: access to tax records, press tables, Milligan, a law professor at the Universi- provide. Privileges like credentials can be prosecutorial records and buildings, ty of Louisville, wrote in a 2008 scholarly helpful to that end, permitting the press to

SPJ’s New America Award honors public service journalism that exposes an issue of importance to immigrant or ethnic communities currently living in the United States. Although not required, collaboration with ethnic media is taken into account. To be eligible, work must have been published or broadcast during the 2017 calendar year. SPJ welcomes nominations from media outlets, journalists, community and issue advocacy groups, individuals and others concerned with ethnic and immigrant issues. ENTRY FEE: $25 MEMBERS / $40 NON-MEMBERS Visit spj.org/a-newamerica.asp for details. ENTRIES ACCEPTED BEGINNING NOVEMBER 6, 2017 SUBMISSION DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 19, 2018

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 Quill 21 do things ordinary citizens may not in or- But the U.S. doesn’t have a monopoly Amendment, even if journalists don’t get der to report a story (e.g., to cross police on those ideas, and in fact we could learn greater rights than citizens. lines at a breaking-news event). But more something from other countries. Over 100 That’s fine. The important thing is that seems needed — clear rights rather than have FOI laws, many modeled after the access rights — for all people — could privileges and patchy FOI laws and un- FOIA. But some of theirs are better. be better protected constitutionally. That even constitutional principles. Liberia has access rights in its consti- would be most congruent, too, with the The First Amendment could be a more tution. Serbia forbids government offi- general First Amendment tradition that operative, reliable source of access rights, cials from giving preference to one jour- all speakers — from the lonely pamphle- a vision that would not put the First nalist over others when responding to teer to the Pulitzer Prize-winning Times Amendment far afield from its role of aid- requests. Kyrgyzstan requires PIOs to be reporter — are treated equally. ing self-government. Indeed, further con- responsive to the press — and rewards Of course, it’s hard to say whether the stitutionalizing access rights could be cast the PIOs for it. court would have any real interest in tak- as a credit to their democratic footings. “Sure, there is more to accessing ing up these issues. But the justices, ac- Free expression and information [information] than just the law,” David cording to research about how public opin- access — indispensable to inclusive Cuillier, director of the University of ion has influenced the court and shaped knowledge societies — lie at the heart Arizona’s School of Journalism, wrote the constitution’s meaning, tend to be fol- of American democratic life, which de- recently about global FOI trends. “A lowers instead of leaders — so a public mands that citizens be informed to par- state or nation can have a strong law discussion is the right starting point. ticipate in public affairs. That kind of in- but weak implementation. Or, a coun- We need to consider what access we formed participation can increase gov- try can have a weak law, but the cul- get from the First Amendment and what ernment efficiency, reduce its corruption ture and political leadership might we expect. and build or maintain civic trust. foster openness. The fact is, though, For now, my answers are not enough Access rights, then, are as much a laws do matter, and the U.S. is falling and more.t part of the First Amendment as expres- behind.” sion rights — just as Potter Stewart It doesn’t have to be that way. The Jonathan Peters is a media law professor at the observed, in dissent, in the Branzburg Supreme Court has acknowledged that University of Georgia, with appointments in the case: “[T]he right to publish is central newsgathering is important, without Grady College of Journalism and Mass Commu- to the First Amendment and basic to the determining in most contexts how much nication and the School of Law. He is also the existence of constitutional democracy,” the First Amendment protects it. That press freedom correspondent for the Columbia and the “corollary of the right to publish is an opportunity — for the court to in- Journalism Review. Follow him on Twitter must be the right to gather news.” vigorate access rights under the First @jonathanwpeters.

22 Quill SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 uill TOOLBOX WORDS & LANGUAGE Q Embrace the paraphrase

Y JULY/AUGUST COLUMN focused on the In the second example, the word “palatable” is the M notion that good journalism thrives on good quota- wrong word. The speaker surely meant “palpable.” Again, tions. We said it was up to the writers to ensure that those we can rescue the quote — as well as the speaker — quotations were indeed good. And by good, we meant with a paraphrase: that they displayed the same characteristics as good writ- • He said Republican disappointment was deep and ing itself: clear, brief, accurate and conversational. palpable. That column also stressed the point that we never The third example shows a common but (to many) have to accept poorly expressed quotations because we teeth-gritting grammatical error. Again, give the speaker always have the paraphrase. a break, fix the pronoun, and paraphrase: We writers have full power over our stories and should • She said her 93-year-old mother lived with her hus- seize that power on our readers’ behalf. Everything in our band and her (or: with her and her husband). stories is there because we put it there. That’s as true of Sometimes, a quote’s presentation is the problem, not PAULA poor speaking as it is of poor writing. “That’s what they its content: LAROCQUE said” is never a reason to allow inaccurate or incompre- In a question and answer session with the publishers, hensible expression into our stories. he called the ... [projected deficit] “disturbing,” and said Paula LaRocque is author Our job is to be intelligent translators, not mere tape he would prod Congressional leaders to forge a budget “in of five books, among them recorders. And skillful paraphrasing allows us to fix inscru- the next couple of weeks.” “The Book on Writing.” table quotations. Better to paraphrase throughout rather than to repeat- Her latest fiction is a mys- Here are three brief but improperly handled quotes: edly disrupt the passage with fragments, ellipses and pa- tery novel, “Monkey See,” available on Amazon.com • “The number of women lawyers is growing expo- rentheses: tentially,” she said. Responding to a question from the publishers, he said Email: [email protected] • “Republican disappointment was deep and palat- the projected deficit was disturbing and that he would prod able,” he said. Congress to forge a budget within the next couple of weeks. Blog and website: paulalarocque.com • "My 93-year-old mother lives with my husband and As invaluable as the paraphrase is in good writing, I,” she said. however, it’s in no way superior to direct quotes — if The first example’s nonword “expotentially” was en- the direct quotes are brief, bright, clear and dramatic. For closed in quotation marks. That treatment not only impolitely example: Empower Yourself focused on the speaker’s mistake, it also failed to fix it. And The paraphrase: Visit SPJ’s reading room for it diverted the reader’s attention from message to mechanic. Her lawyer asked her what she thought of the defen- more articles that will help A better way to present this quote is to paraphrase it: dant’s repeated denials — in the face of the facts. She you on your path to becoming a better journalist. • She said the number of women lawyers was grow- said she wasn’t surprised because he “wasn’t very bright.” spj.org/rr.asp ing exponentially. The lawyer then asked her what she meant by that, and she said she guessed she meant that sinners could convert, but stupid is forever. Here is that passage presented as dialogue, using direct quotes: “What did you think of the defendant’s repeated denials,” her lawyer asked, “in the face of the facts?” “I wasn’t surprised,” she said. “He wasn’t very bright.” “What do you mean by that?” “I guess I mean that sinners can convert, but stupid is forever.” Journalists seldom use storytelling devices. But dialogue — with its brevity, white space, simplicity, drama, human voice and conversational style — can showcase quotations that otherwise might get lost. Beyond that, it’s good for writers to occasionally break with journalistic custom. Failure to experiment or innovate can sometimes

Shutterstock.com Shutterstock.com spell a creative dead end.t

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 Quill 23 24 Quill SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 BY DAVID CUILLIER ring in the cats and dogs, and batten down the The idea is for state public record laws to require that hatches: The forecast for government transpar- the agency pay for the requester’s attorney fees when a ency calls for increasing clouds with a chance requester sues for public records and prevails. In states of heavy storms. that have such provisions, attorneys are more likely to This year the John S. and James L. Knight step up and sue on behalf of a requester because they Foundation commissioned me to study the have a good shot at getting paid. News organizations state of freedom of information in the United are more likely to sue, as well, if they think they can get States, where it’s going and what can be done their attorney fees back. to improve it. The first phase of the report, is- This, more than anything, would empower request- sued in March during National Sunshine Week, relied on ers to enforce the law without the need for litigation a survey of 228 journalists and FOI experts, along with funds or legal expertise. We need a concerted effort to interviews with more than 100 other experts. get these provisions passed in every state public record The findings weren’t entirely surprising, but they're law, similar to how the Student Press Law Center is still critically important to journalism: passing student press freedom legislation through its • Access to government records is worse today compared New Voices campaign. to four years ago, about half said. Only 13 percent said it’s • Create and enforce tough penalties. We need stiff gotten better, and 41 percent said it’s about the same. penalties in the laws, such as in Washington state. • Nearly 4 out of 10 say they’ve seen a rise in public There, a judge can impose a fine of up to $100 per day records request denials in the past four years. for each record illegally denied. A failed amendment • Nearly 9 out of 10 predicted access would get worse under the Trump administration. While it’s too early to really know The most pressing problem noted by study partici- whether access to public records pants was long delays by agencies in responding to has gotten worse under the new public record requests, followed by excessive redac- tions, agencies ignoring requests, and excessive copy administration, anecdotally it and search fees. appears we are fast on our way to Ted Bridis, an investigative reporter for The Associ- a more secretive America. ated Press, summed up the outlook for the years ahead under President Donald Trump: “I think it’s going to be a to U.S. FOIA in 2016 by the House of Representatives backyard brawl.” would have resulted in employees being disciplined or While it’s too early to really know whether access to fired for violating the law. Many public record laws al- public records has gotten worse under the new adminis- ready have legal repercussions for noncompliance, but tration, anecdotally it appears we are fast on our way to they are rarely enforced. a more secretive America. • Provide alternative resolution. The system is What is more important, though, is figuring out ways stacked against the requester when it requires citizens to improve FOI. Fortunately, a lot of smart people have to hire an attorney and go to court. In Connecticut, peo- some pretty good ideas. ple can contact the Freedom of Information Commission to resolve disputes without going to court, and the com- FIX THE BROKEN PROCESS mission can require agencies to cough up records. Mexi- Study respondents overwhelmingly said that public re- co has a similar independent agency with teeth. cord laws and processes need an overhaul in several Ohio has started experimenting with a system where key areas: denied requesters can file a complaint for $25 with the • Pass attorney-fee provisions. While a bit wonkish, Court of Claims and get resolution without hiring an this solution was the most highly rated solution in the attorney or going to court. A television reporter from study and has perhaps the most significant potential im- Cleveland was able to use this process to get disciplin- pact on access throughout the nation. ary records out of City Hall. Read her story on page 36.

MORE INFORMATION “Forecasting Freedom of Information: Why It Faces Problems — and How Experts Say They Could be Solved,” was produced by David Cuillier and edited by Eric Newton for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, released March 2017. It is available at bit.ly/2njnEbB.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 Quill 25 open government should be better sup- ported, and social media campaigns could spread the word, as we see else- where in the world. Check out, for example, the stunning public service FOI video made in India (bit.ly/2xFMn1s). • Lobby and advocate. The Second Amendment has the National Rifle Assoc- iation. Who lobbies for the First Amend- ment and FOI? Study respondents noted the need for educating politicians at the federal and state levels about freedom of information, including training of politicians and outright campaign contributions. Few nonprofits are positioned to do so, although SPJ is a 501(c)6, which enables it to lobby if it wishes. Building up SPJ’s endowed First Amendment Forever Fund could help, as well as teaming with good-government groups.

THINK FRESH Perhaps the most interesting part of the study was the list of big ideas, new tech proposals and cross-cutting solutions that emerged from experts. This is where things could get interesting. • Boost proactive disclosure. I dream of a world where having to request records is a failure of the system. Public records should be available online as they are immediately produced, with legally exempt materials redacted automatically. That isn’t too far away. Tom Johnson, former Region 9 director for SPJ, started “It’s the People’s Data” in New Mexico to Still images taken from "India Needs a Superhero" FOI public service video (bit.ly/2xFMn1s). do just that. He works with cities such as Santa Fe to help develop systems to post EDUCATE AND EMPOWER toward proactive release of documents data online proactively. If citizens and politicians don’t support and data. Journalists reported that more • Build new tech tools. Develop part- open government, and journalists and training for requesters, as well, could nerships with tech companies to create record custodians are unfamiliar with even the playing field. tools that will enhance FOI, such as a the laws, then freedom of information • Expand public education. Too of- more streamlined searchable database might just end up a farce or a tragedy, ten we forget that government gets a lot of government databases; artificial in- or perhaps both. Respondents provided more public record requests from citi- telligence that identifies public records ideas to prevent that: zens than from journalists. Rarely does useful to people and notifies interested • Train. Everyone — on both sides anyone help the average person learn parties; or a website/app called “Ask of the counter — needs to better un- what records are available and how to this!” that allows record custodians, derstand how FOI works. The second- get them. fearful of leaking public records, to highest-ranked solution in the study Curriculum about FOI should be de- instead anonymously post sugges- was providing more training to record veloped for K-12 and college courses, tions for specific records that journal- custodians. Even more important, fos- as it is required in the Mexican state of ists should request. Traditional access tering a culture of transparency in gov- Sinaloa. Sunshine Week should be ex- groups and legacy media should create ernment could make significant strides panded year-round, state coalitions for more partnerships with Google, Face-

26 Quill SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 book and other companies to enhance eracy movements, pooling fundraising records access. expertise, and changing access termi- • Create a constitutional “Right to nology (e.g., call it a FOIA “order,” not a Know.” Although unlikely in the near FOIA “request”). Some amazing ideas by future, it would be great if the right to amazing people. know were enshrined in the U.S. Consti- So how do we make all this happen? tution. It’s not that wacky; many nations, We need to work together. such as South Korea, have included FOI One of the most important takeaways in their constitutions. It’s included in from the research was the critical need some of our state constitutions. The Unit- for FOI groups to better coordinate. Or- ed Nations’ Universal Declaration of Hu- ganizations need to set aside their competitive nature and band together to de- One of the most impor- velop useful research, monitor proposed Fellow of the Society tant takeaways from the legislative exemptions, expand litiga- is an honor bestowed research was the critical tion and push back against secrecy. upon journalists for We have seen some of that over time extraordinary contributions need for FOI groups to — U.S. FOIA was passed in 1966 thanks to the profession. better coordinate. to SPJ, ASNE and others banding togeth- Organizations need to er — and in the past year. But we need Deadline for set aside their competi- more. We need to bolster the National nominations: Freedom of Information Coalition, ex- December 1 tive nature and band pand FOI law clinics, and create a sense

together to develop of teamwork and trust. For the next six months I will conduct Nominations useful research, monitor Nominations should be proposed legislative the next phase of this Knight FOI study by focusing on the lay of the land in the accompanied by a letter(s) of recommendation that exemptions, expand FOI/journalism organizational world — addresses the nominee’s to identify the key players and hubs, the litigation and push contributions and/or service connections, the gaps, the opportunities back against secrecy. to the profession and why and the key elements of success. With the nominee is deserving of man Rights has deemed access to infor- any luck, we will have a better idea of this national recognition. mation as a natural human right since how to work more effectively as a pas- Self-nominations are 1948. Yet, it’s not in the U.S. Constitution, sionate collective of FOI fighters. not permitted. and the U.S. Supreme Court has been re- We have to succeed. In this day, with luctant to interpret the right to public re- increasing secrecy and information con- To nominate visit: cords as a First Amendment right. That trol, FOI matters more than ever.t needs to change. spj.org/a-fellowsOTS.asp David Cuillier is director and associate professor Respondents provided dozens of other of the University of Arizona School of Journalism ideas, as well, including creating infor- and a former president and FOI chair for the So- Winner Announcement mation taxing districts, spreading FOI ciety of Professional Journalists. He is co-author and Presentation through popular culture, piggybacking with Charles Davis of “The Art of Access: Strate- Winners will be announced on the news credibility and media lit- gies for Acquiring Public Records.” in July and honored at the Excellence in Journalism Convention. TOP 10 PROBLEMS WITH FOI TOP 10 SOLUTIONS 1. Delays 1. Requiring attorney-fee provisions in the law For More Information: 2. Excessive redaction 2. More training for government custodians For more information contact 3. Requests ignored 3. Adding fines and punishment SPJ Headquarters at 4. Search and redaction fees 4. Advocacy to increase public support 317/927-8000 or via e-mail: 5. Copy fees 5. Alternatives to filing lawsuits [email protected] 6. Lack of enforcement 6. More funding for agencies 7. Overuse of exemptions 7. Tracking of proposed FOI exemption 8. Data/tech issues legislation 9. Cultures of secrecy 8. Aid for requesters to sue 10. Reserve-FOIA suits 9. Better coordination of FOI groups 10. FOI education in the schools

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 Quill 27 We all know the financial struggles every young journalist faces. That’s why SPJ has extended its post-grad membership rates from two years to three. Any journalist who has been out of college for three years or less will now pay just $37.50 per year. As a special incentive, any newly joining post-grad member can pay a lump sum of $75 for a three-year membership. That’s 1/3 off the regular price! Contact the Membership Department at (317) 927-8000, ext. 213, or [email protected].

28 Quill SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 uill TOOLBOX FREELANCE Q Learn to overcome record request hurdles

ND WHO ARE YOU REPORTING FOR?” possible, push back on technicalities even before formally A This the most dreaded question I hear as a freelancer, appealing a denial or redaction. especially when I’m calling a public office to request records. The next stage of negotiation often revolves around I don’t fault anyone for asking it — it’s a natural question, cost. This, again, is a challenge that staff reporters face, and I’m sure I would ask it too, if the tables were turned. too. But as freelancers, we often feel particularly vulner- But as freelancers, we usually need to conduct a able to being priced out of the market for access to informa- certain amount of research before pitching a story. In tion. When that happens, consider these techniques: these early stages, there isn’t always a good answer to that question beyond, “Oh, I’m not reporting for anyone Request fee waivers based on your credentials, yet. I’m just curious.” Which, although legally and tech- 1 not your clients. (See also No. 2, above.) The fed- nically justifiable, does not realistically inspire a sense eral Freedom of Information Act and some state laws offer of urgency on the part of many bureaucrats and their potential fee waivers for researchers, including journalists, HILARY NILES screeners. who pledge to use requested information for non-commer- Hilary Niles is a freelance Nonetheless, early research is critical to our work and cial purposes in the public interest. The federal FOIA even data journalism consultant, business models, particularly for any degree of investiga- suggests that an assignment qualifies a freelancer as a multimedia investigative sto- tive reporting. So, what’s a freelancer to do? member of the news media eligible for fee waivers. But it ryteller and award-winning Following are some tips* for how to handle the dread- doesn’t go so far as to require an assignment. “(T)he Govern- researcher based in Vermont. ed question: ment may also consider the past publication record of the She’s secretary of the SPJ requester in making such a determination,” the law says. Remember, public records are just that: public. Freelance Community, a Perhaps sometimes you’ll have to go out of your way to jus- They’re not “Press Records,” and they’re especially member of the FOI Com- 1 tify your research, but don’t assume that you need proof of not “Records Reserved for Disclosure Only to Staff Mem- mittee and an alum of the an assignment up front in order to avoid hefty costs. bers of Recognized News Outlets.” Disclosure depends on Missouri School of Journal- the nature of the records — not your identity, nor your Call their bluff. I’ve been told in the past that a ism graduate program. Her intended publication. So, start any request by connecting 2 request could cost thousands of dollars to produce. reporting has been featured with the firm ground on which you stand. If you meet re- Maybe this office would have said the same to anyone in The Boston Globe and on Vermont Public Radio; on sistance, you can remind your contacts of these principles. from an official newsroom, or maybe they thought they NPR’s "Only a Game," "Here We all have different communication styles, but I recom- could scare me away. Regardless, after checking my bud- and Now" and "All Things mend doing so with polite and casual professionalism, not get (and risk tolerance), I told the office to work till they hit Considered"; and on the BBC antagonism or defensiveness. $750 and get back to me. They never hit $750. They never World Service. even sent me a bill. They just sent me the records. Train your contacts to respond to you because 2 you’re you, not because you may be reporting for any Get newsroom buy-in. This is more feasible in the particular news outlet. For example, even when you have 3 context of established relationships with editors, but an assignment in hand, request records simply as yourself, if you’ve got that in your favor, use it to your advantage. without naming whom you’re reporting for. This will help Make the case to your editor for why these records are Results may vary, depending acclimate your contacts to dealing with you on your own worth investigating, and see if they’ll commit a certain on the size of the bureaucracy from which you’re requesting, terms. The paradigm shift will come in handy during later level of funding. Keep in mind, this is before an actual the frequency of your contact early-stage requests, when your contacts don’t have to pitch — because you don’t have the records yet, so you with them, the significance know that you don’t have an assignment. don’t know what the story is. To make this work, you’d of your online presence to have to have enough of a lead to interest the newsroom. Become your own best advocate. This goes for demonstrate that you should be But be careful to not over-promise. Instead, establish the any reporter, but it’s really up to us as freelancers to taken seriously and the attitude 3 clear expectation that the request could turn up nothing. of the person responding. When know our stuff. Bookmark federal and your state’s public you do encounter obstacles or records statutes and study the parameters. Demand that Apply for grants. A handful of organizations support pushback, remember that staff any and every redaction or withheld record be justified 4 investigative freelance reporting with grants that cov- reporters experience this, too. with a citation to the exemption; then check the citation er the cost of public records requests. Check back on the SPJ Our techniques for overcoming to be sure it means what the bureaucrats say. And speak Freelance Community’s blog at blogs.spjnetwork.org/free them as freelancers may vary up when you disagree with their interpretation of the law. lance for such resources, as well as other insights from “Yes, slightly, but in the end, journal- Base your understanding on common sense; you don’t You Can: Investigative Reporting as a Freelancer,” a session ism is a lot about perseverance. need a law degree at this stage of the game. To the extent at this September’s Excellence in Journalism conference.t Keep up the good work.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 Quill 29 30 Quill SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 Shutterstock.com Shutterstock.com Using the predictive power of FOIA data to help file better requests BY MICHAEL MORISY n 2010, when we started MuckRock, a non-profit Over the years we’ve found that most responses from website that helps newsrooms and journalists agencies fall into one of about eight different buckets. around the country file and track public records We’ve hand coded thousands of these responses. About requests, one of our big bets was that if you filed two years ago, my co-founder Mitchell Kotler used Scikit- a lot of FOIA requests, you’d get better at it. And if learn, an open-source machine learning library written you carefully organized and archived all the data in Python, to teach computers to do the tedious categori- around what worked and what didn’t, computers could zation work that our staff had been doing. As we scaled Ihelp you get even better, uncovering insights into the up from helping our users track hundreds of requests to process that humans might miss. thousands and then tens of thousands, this approach In the abstract, the idea — practice makes perfect — is seemed like the only avenue forward. not particularly novel, but nobody had ever applied the In practice, it works something like a spam filter: concept to FOIA, as far as we could tell, or at least not on We’ve given it tens of thousands of examples of agen- the scale we were envisioning. Most FOIA studies were cy responses and taught it what to look for. It’s im- composed of a dozen, or a few dozen, requests. portant to know that it’s “looking” in only a very rudi- In our first year, we helped file several hundred re- mentary sense: Despite being trained on hundreds of cords requests. Today, we’ve helped our users file more thousands of examples, the computer still has no real than 36,000 requests, including several hundred in almost every state. Because we carefully track every step of the process, including the date and method used to file the request as well as the language of the original request, and information on every response from an agency, we have an enormous amount of information to work with. At a FOIA hackathon last summer, a full export of our database was about 112 gigabytes (bit.ly/2xyNKz3), and it’s roughly doubled since then. But putting that information to work on behalf of requesters can be surprisingly challenging. It turns out that a lot of the skills used by FOIA and public records veterans for years often have nuance and common sense — and perhaps most importantly, sources — that Siri and other artificial intelligence efforts haven’t caught up to. Our first major effort was simply trying to build predictive models to determine whether a given response to a request from an agency completed a request, rejected it, asked for more information, etc.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 Quill 31 understanding of what a FOIA request sponsive records,” for example). wants you to call and talk about another actually is, nor does it even really com- Fortunately for us, the system largely part of your request? How do you cat- prehend language. worked. We can now automatically pre- egorize a response if they respond with Instead, it’s taught to look at a variety dict, with about 80 percent accuracy, a cease and desist? Or if they helpfully of factors and figure out correlations be- what an incoming communication from forward your request on to another de- tween those factors and the ultimate sta- an agency is trying to say. partment for a final response? Just like the stories our users report, Using our API, we pulled out all the information from our requests there are almost infinite shades of gray. and put it in a machine-readable format, and the Data.World team Even as we continue improving our au- tomation, many of the responses we get analyzed it, building an open source FOIA predictor application. stump me. The application was simple to use: Just paste in your request, pick We also wanted the requester com- an agency and get feedback tailored to your request. munity to benefit more from what we’ve learned. We’ve put together guides to tus. In our cases, those factors included It was also a good illustration for how every state’s public records laws (bit. how many pages were attached to the complex public records requests are ly/2hlIDIx) that includes information on email (40 pages are generally more like- when put in practice. While we like to how the process works and your options ly to indicate a successful request ver- think of it as a fairly cut-and-dried legal if you get rejected, as well as detailed sus one page) or the frequency of certain process, there’s a lot of nuance: What if statistics on average response times, words in proximity to each other (“no re- an officer provides some documents, but rejection rates and fees. But we knew

Cases like Joe Hosey and Jana Winter show: Journalists are not always protected by their First Amendment rights. Unjust requests from the government ordering reporters to reveal sources are unfortunately becoming more and more commonplace. It’s happening to reporters of all calibers, from all over the U.S. — this is why it’s important now more than ever to support the passing of a federal shield law in the U.S. Congress.

Weak shield laws affect not only reporters; they are a consequence to our nation. If citizens can’t trust journalists to protect their identity, they won’t feel comfortable revealing information that’s crucial to having a transparent government. As Past SPJ President David Cuillier has said: “This isn’t about the press. This is about democracy.”

To read about the history of the shield law, as well as the current bills, visit SPJ online at spj.org/shieldlaw.asp.

32 Quill SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 we could do more with the database we had built up. We were delighted when Data.World, an Austin-based startup, wanted to help. Using our API, we pulled out all the information from our requests and put it in a machine-readable format, and the Data.World team analyzed it, building an open-source FOIA predictor application (bit.ly/2hmlvK2). The application was simple to use: Just paste in your request, pick an agency and get feedback tailored to your request. Their model was significantly more complex, looking at more factors than the one we used, such as the number of proper nouns, the inclusion of links, sentence length and looking for key elements, such as the mention of fees. The Data.World team was also able to pick out trends that we had missed: Over the last four years, they found (bit. ly/2xqzHLd), responses with structured your model works against it. The Data. helpful. If you instead took a look at the data increased by 417 percent. World team found that their predic- factors and offered feedback on how to There were a few broad strategies tor was about 80 accurate in guessing improve the overall request — shorten it they were able to pick out as being gen- whether information would be released. here, add a link there — you could main- erally successful. But users quickly found that they tain the almost instant feedback while According to their analysis, requests could game the model, or else take ad- not discouraging requesters from filing mentioning fees were less likely to suc- vantage of the fact that good agencies requests that could very well uncover in- ceed, while shorter requests tend to get were generally likely to release infor- formation in the public interest, even if better results. mation even if the request wasn’t well those are long shots. A lot of what we found was backed up written. It wasn’t hard to write a non- Our conclusion was that while algo- by what we’d seen anecdotally. But state sense request that scored well in the rithms can improve FOIA and public and local trends, such as the increase system, and people were concerned that records requests, the request process in responses with structured data, were well-written requests that scored poorly shouldn’t be algorithmic. There’s a hu- ones that had flown under the radar. could discourage requesters. man on the other end, and just like with any other part of the reporting process, But users quickly found that they could game the model, or else judgment is essential in when you take advantage of the fact that good agencies were generally likely should offer carrot and when you should to release information even if the request wasn’t well written. offer stick. Data.World has opened- sourced all their work (bit.ly/2fmkrci), It wasn’t hard to write a nonsense request that scored well in the and we’re looking into incorporating system, and people were concerned that well-written requests that similar FOIA coaching into our own re- scored poorly could discourage requesters. quest system. Ultimately, big data can help FOIA But their analysis also came to the We discussed the results with the be more effective, but algorithms won’t conclusion that agencies with good Data.World team and talked through be replacing reporters any time soon — track records are more likely to release how maybe a better approach is to avoid just empowering them to do their work more records in the future. That gener- giving a request a “score.” Instead, we better. t ally outweighed other factors, such as proposed trying to create a virtual re- Michael Morisy is co-founder of MuckRock, a how the request was written. quest coach that offered concrete sug- news and information outlet focusing on access The app was also a good lesson in us- gestions based on what it saw. to public records. He was previously a Boston ability and user expectations. While having a single success per- Globe editor and 2014-15 Knight Fellow at Stan- In machine learning, you often set a centage is deeply satisfying, it was ford University. Email: [email protected]. On Twitter: segment of data and then test how well often misleading and not particularly @Morisy.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 Quill 33 Need to add some SPJ swag to your grad garb? We’ve got you covered with a signature blue and white cord that features a perfectly placed SPJ charm. Order today while supplies last —you don’t want to miss out!

Contact Chrystal Parvin at 317.361.4132 or [email protected] to order uill TOOLBOX EDUCATION Q Students and live news: Tips to avoiding kryptonite

OCIAL MEDIA HAS CHANGED not only the • Remember liability and accountability. Fact-check. Sface of journalism. It has changed the entire stan- Question again and again. Don’t assume that because dard for what is news and, in particular, what is consid- something is happening at the moment that it must be the ered “breaking news.” entire story. Other events may have occurred before the With a 24-hour news hole to fill, 365 days a year, even reporter arrived on the scene. professional reporters have been tripped up while trying • Report only what is known. If it’s absolutely neces- to beat the next 24-hour news cycler to the punch. This is sary to share unconfirmed details, be sure to inform the especially true in cable news. To make matters worse, the audience that the information is unconfirmed. Ideally, only advent of the ability to go live from social media platforms confirmed information will be shared. Again, remember li- has placed even more strain on publishing first and live. ability and accountability. These technological developments have become kryp- • Repeat bullet points two, three and four. Do a quick tonite to journalists in the making. Anyone familiar with reassessment. Ask questions. Fact-check. PAT SANDERS

Superman knows the compound makes him fallible, weak Shutterstock.com and vulnerable to major mistakes. The ability for young Pat Sanders is an associate professor at the University journalists to go live with a simple touch of a button can of North Alabama, where have a similar effect, raising the stress level of college she teaches Radio-Televi- professors trying to impart that live news — even while sion-Interactive Media and breaking — must be truthful and factual. Journalism: Multimedia. So, how does one teach students to hold onto the te- Professionally, she worked nets of great journalism when they have the ability to pub- as a reporter, anchor, news lish information to the world in a matter of nanoseconds? director and bureau chief Here are a few tips for educators and students: in the commercial and • Continue to drive home the idea that great journal- public radio sectors. She is ism, in any form, still needs to be well-crafted. That means also a freelance voice artist. that no matter what the publishing platform, news still She conducts research on must be delivered factually. radio, digital technology/ • Have students practice “live” reporting events with social media and diversity in their phones as part of a classroom project. higher education. Contact • Practice the process: When arriving at a scene, stu- • Allow the camera to roll without a lot of verbal her at [email protected]. dents should learn to follow the same steps as if they were assessment. Provide only what one can see, but remind “broadcasting” a story. Make an initial assessment of the viewers it is a personal assessment being given with what scene. What is seen and heard? Where is the action? Who is available. Let the audience know that information is still are the people in the scene? Is there any present danger? being gathered. • Before “closing out” at the scene or stopping the live video, summarize. DO IT WELL

Shutterstock.com Shutterstock.com Even though the 24-hour news cycle is no longer new, it still presents challenges when trying to provide live content. That often leads to fluff, with mistakes being reported instead of news. Students should be fully cognizant of the fact that not everything happening in their environment is newsworthy, which leads back to teaching the good, solid, principled basics of great journalism. As a reminder, those are (1) getting at and reporting truth, (2) critiquing and understanding what is being reported, (3) covering all sides of • Ask questions — not only of the witnesses, but a story, (4) including diverse voices, (5) reporting facts, (6) of an authority figure who can provide a more accurate asking numerous questions and (7) getting it right, which and factual assessment. If they are busy, find others. is the only antidote to bad live-news reporting.t

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 Quill 35 Photo: Dale MacDonald New law a good start, but holes remain Cleveland broadcaster shares experience as first journalist to test new records process BY DANI CARLSON

ait, what?” That was my initial re- Rereading that letter still makes me angry. action when I thumbed through the I asked the secretary who provided the file why the supposed fulfillment of my pub- termination letter was removed, and she said it was due lic records request from the city of to “case law.” But she couldn’t provide me with a single Green, Ohio. case. The law director, of course, wasn’t there. WI quickly double checked the dates. It was May 3, Fuming, I called two of my mentors on the drive back, 2016 — 10 business days after my initial request. The John Arguello and Ken Kolker at WOOD TV in Grand public records fighter in me hoped that there must be Rapids, Michigan. They confirmed that it sure seemed some mistake. like a load of something. There wasn’t. After double-checking the law with our station attor- I had filed a fairly routine public records request on neys, I sent a follow-up email to the city. I asked the law April 20, 2016, for the personnel file, including any dis- director to provide specific case names and citations ciplinary actions, of a former employee of the small that they thought justified destroying the termination hamlet. I had received a tip that he had been fired, and I letter after I'd filed a request. might be interested in the reason why. A few days later, I received a response from the city’s Eight days after that request, I was told I could come law director, Stephen Pruneski. He wrote, “I have no ob- pick up the requested information. I drove nearly 50 ligation to provide you my legal analysis based upon miles south from Cleveland, only to see a letter on the my 31 years of legal experience; which is 31 more years very front page of a stack of personnel documents. than you.” The letter was dated April 26, six days after my ini- That is in direct opposition to Ohio public records law. tial request. It said the city had removed a termination Pruneski continued with his attempted scolding by letter from April 5 and destroyed all copies, and that the saying the city made an agreement with the employ- city was allowing him to retroactively resign instead of ee, in part, to avoid a threatened lawsuit. Of course, a being fired. threatened lawsuit is not a legal reason to withhold pub- Again — this all happened AFTER I filed a public re- lic documents. The law director left his job with the city cords request for that letter. shortly after sending me that note. It went on to say: Over the next few weeks, station attorneys fired off “We have further agreed to keep the terms of the reso- several angry letters to the city and spoke to the new lution of your employment with the City confidential.” law director over the phone. But short of filing a law-

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 Quill 37 suit against the city, it didn’t seem that I The individuals include parents look- some information was released to the re- would get the records. ing for the names of substitute teachers, quester. But this number includes cases So I waited until Sept. 28, 2016, when a plus current inmates, elected officials, where the requester voluntarily dismiss- new Ohio public records mediation law firefighters and former public employees. es his or her case (more on that later). went into effect. “It’s a lot of people with a legitimate Fourteen cases went to a special mas- Initially, the new law seemed like the beef against a public agency,” Reed said. ter for a decision. In seven of those, two promised land. It was, and is, a way to “They can’t get relief any other way; they of which are mine, the requester has get documents without filing a cost-pro- learn about this process and take advan- won. In four, the special master decided hibitive lawsuit. tage of it.” in favor of the public agency, and in three The process itself is simple: pay a one- One of those filers is Mark Gerber, cases the decision was split. In two cas- time $25 fee and write how you feel you whose situation highlights one of the es, one of which is Gerber's, the case has have been denied records. The filer can problems with the new Court of Claims gone to an appeals court. include any documentation, like emails system. Gerber’s biggest objection to the new and other paperwork, and the court will “The spirit of this new law is that … law and the new process is the right to serve the public agency. (This, in itself, two country bumpkins can get informa- appeal. is a big plus for cities that don’t respond tion that should be in the public domain “They want a second review of the evidence by the appeals court. Well, The big question, regardless of how the rulings play out, they had their shot,” Gerber said. “I is whether this new process will change the way govern- don’t think [the law goes] far enough. I think it’s a reasonable first step. I think ments do business. In other words, if agencies know they it needs to be more well defined and will be dragged into the Court of Claims, will this prompt more tilted toward the public asking them to be more compliant on the front end? these questions.” That’s the general feeling I’ve gotten to public records requests for months, or without having prior attorneys and stuff from people who have gone through the even years. I've had several cases like like that,” Gerber said. “The fact of the process: It’s a good first step. this with the city of Cleveland.) matter is, that’s not really true.” Gerber’s case went to Ohio’s 5th Dis- The Ohio Court of Claims, based in Gerber, former fiscal officer for Lib- trict Court of Appeals. On Sept. 22 (10 Columbus, will then call and schedule erty Township, is a private citizen. He months after he filed his initial pub- a mediation by phone. The mediation filed a public records case against the lic records case), the court sided with can only be by phone — this is another township, a community of about 40,000 Gerber, who received financial support thoughtful part of the law. It’s designed people just 20 miles north of Columbus. from SPJ’s Legal Defense Fund. But the so that no one has to travel a significant He said it was his only option after his story still isn’t over: Gerber doesn’t yet way to fight their case in court. request for notes related to the demo- have his records and said he’s still in If the phone mediation doesn’t work, tion of the township’s fire chief was discussion about when he will actually a special master makes a decision on denied. He said he thought the town- get them. the case. ship didn't follow the law; the Court of I, too, won my case against the city So far, 79 cases have been filed. Twen- Claims agreed. of Green, but I didn’t immediately get ty-three of those are against the city But he still has no records. This is my file. of Cleveland, nine against the state of because the process allows for appeal, After the judge issued his order, Ohio, and five against the county Cleve- which the township did. Green's law director called me to say land calls home, Cuyahoga County. This forced Gerber to hire attorneys that in the three months since I’d filed When it comes to public records dis- and go to the Court of Appeals to fight his my suit, the city had been sued in civil putes, Northeast Ohio seems to have cor- case — eliminating the spirit of “expedi- court by the subject of those personnel nered the market. tious and economical” judgment behind files. The law director told me the man Most surprising to me as a journalist the court of claims process. had asked for a restraining order forbid- is who has filed these cases. Twenty-six “[The new law] doesn't eliminate at- ding the city to release the information were filed by attorneys or private inves- torneys, and it should eliminate the at- I’d asked for. She said she was going to tigators, 21 were filed by journalists, but torneys,” Gerber said. “Maybe in 20 per- ignore the Court of Claims judgment un- the largest bulk of filers are regular com- cent of the cases [it will], but I don't think til a civil court judge eventually ruled on munity members. it will for the other 80 percent.” the restraining order. The Clerk of Courts for the Ohio Court According to the Court of Claims clerk, There wasn't even a hearing date set of Claims, Mark Reed, said that was a little 41 cases — more than half — have been to argue about the restraining order at surprising to him, too. “There’s no one way resolved in mediation, and he said in that point. The issue is, the way the law's to categorize the requesters,” Reed said. “pretty much all” of those cases at least written, there’s no penalty for agen-

38 Quill SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 cies that don't comply with the Court of From the perspective of a trained law- of Claims, will this prompt them to be Claims ruling. yer, same verdict: The new process is a more compliant on the front end? If I didn't have access to an attorney at good first step. The jury is still out, by all accounts. this point, then what? One of the next steps to tackle is the Reed, from the Court of Claims, said “You shouldn’t have to pay an econom- “after-verdict” process. Currently a re- he believes it is changing the way gov- ic penalty like hiring a lawyer to get this quester has two options: ernments respond. He said resources stuff; that’s really not fair,” said Cleve- 1. Voluntarily dismiss the case once are tight at every level, but he believes land civil rights attorney David Malik. they have the records in hand. However, this new process is making local agen- Malik has filed several cases us- it will cost the requester about $30 to dis- cies realize they need to “re-deploy ing the new public records appeal pro- miss the case. And, with this option, the people” to meet the needs of the citizens cess, and many more before the process court will not rule if the agency was in requesting documents. took effect. His firm has a stated goal of violation. On the positive side, the re- Malik, on the other hand, said he changing the community to prevent civil quester has the documents and paid less didn’t know the answer for every agency rights violations in the future. He focus- than $50 out of pocket. but had an idea about what it will mean es mainly on the city of Cleveland and 2. Continue through the process and for Cleveland. Cleveland Police. hope the courts find the agency in viola- “On the sunny side, you hope it does Despite believing that people shouldn’t tion. Should this occur, the requester is [change the culture], but on the realistic have to hire an attorney to be successful not required to pay the $30 dismissal fee. side it doesn't really seem to be a prior- in the new appeals process, after going In many instances, this may be a good ity with the city of Cleveland — it really through the process himself, he recom- avenue for a journalist, as a “guilty” ver- doesn’t,” Malik said. “We know things mends the lay person get some help. dict can often be an important part of the still get hidden, but it’s much improved “I think what the lay person has to do story. However, going this route likely over what it was.” is probably reach out to a very reason- means a longer delay getting records Gerber, who won his case but is still ably priced lawyer to get some help, or to that may be important to a timely story. fighting in appeals court, said he doubts make it really clear to the hearing exam- The big question, regardless of how the it will have any effect on the way govern- iner that they need their help,” Malik said. rulings play out, is whether this new pro- ment operates unless things (like penal- “It’s only user friendly if you [have] been cess will change the way governments ties for not complying) change. savvy enough to really do your homework do business. In other words, if agencies “I’d probably be pessimistic on the on where the documents might be.” know they will be dragged into the Court fact that (the new law) is highly unlikely to be beefed up and made stronger,” Ger- ber said. To best sum it up, the law definitely provides more access. As a result, I’ve received hundreds of documents that I likely wouldn’t have had a chance of seeing. But I think there are some things that need to be fixed if the state truly wants to uphold the lofty goal set by the Ohio case Patterson v. Ayers: "The rule in Ohio is that public records are the people's records, and that the officials in whose custody they happen to be are merely trustees for the people.” t

Dani Carlson is an Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist at WOIO, the CBS station in Cleveland, Ohio. She is also an adjunct instruc- tor of journalism at Kent State University. Before moving to the North Coast, the Chicago native in- structed at her alma mater, Northwestern Univer- sity, spent six years in Grand Rapids, Michigan, at WOOD TV, and also worked in Fresno, California, Johannesburg, South Africa, and Lexington, Ken- tucky. Dislikes include public agencies not being transparent, and nothing makes her happier than Dani Carlson (Photo: Dale MacDonald) a fighting for, and getting, data, documents and a great story. On Twitter: @DaniCarlsonTV.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 Quill 39 uill TOOLBOX ETHICS Q Newsroom ethics discussions don’t have to be uncomfortable

O PERSON LIKES TO CONFRONT co-work- a newsroom is a rational and understanding individual, Ners or managers about issues in the workplace. The some people may react negatively if they feel attacked or conversations can be uncomfortable and lead to hurt feel- have their judgment questioned. ings. However, those discussions are often necessary to • Journalists may want to bring in additional people create a good work environment. to the conversation. A second or third voice may help add In addition to topics such as salary issues and disputes to a concern’s legitimacy. Managers and co-workers are with co-workers, journalists may sometimes need to con- less likely to dismiss a concern if they know it’s shared by front managers and co-workers about another touchy sub- more than one individual. ject: ethics. Like those other matters, discussions about • Journalists who raise concerns must also be willing ethics are necessary. to help implement a solution. Any person can point out The Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics flaws and complain, but a person who truly cares must is clear that journalists should “expose unethical conduct show they thought through the issue and will contribute ANDREW in journalism, including within their organizations.” to seeing it corrected. SEAMAN The first part of that principle is relatively simple, es- • Journalists must know what outcome they’re will- Andrew Seaman is chairman pecially in today’s digital world. A journalist who sees an ing to accept. If the person lodging the complaint is on the of the SPJ Ethics Committee issue at another news organization can draw attention to fence about the validity of the issue, perhaps they’re will- and a health/medical it on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networks. ing to be persuaded that it’s not a problem. On the other reporter for Reuters. Contact The built-in immune system of the internet often intervenes hand, a person must think ahead to their next step if they him at andrew.m.seaman@ to debunk misinformation and correct the record. don’t get an acceptable outcome. They may request the gmail.com. On Twitter: The second part of the principle is easier read than publisher be looped into the conversation if the executive @andrewmseaman done, however. Journalists call the Society’s Ethics Hot- editor is unwilling to compromise, for example. line from time to time concerned about something in their As in any profession, it’s also important for employ- newsrooms. Sometimes they’re looking for confirmation ees to examine their company’s workplace policies. Many Struggling with a dilemma that a practice is unethical. Other times, they’re asking on deadline, or just want the Society to intervene. The Society of Professional to talk about a tough call Unfortunately for people who make the latter re- Journalists’ Code of Ethics is you’ve had to make? quest, the Society often doesn’t have the resources to clear that journalists should Call SPJ’s Ethics Hotline at get involved in newsroom arguments. Fortunately, many “expose unethical conduct in (317) 927-8000, ext. 208. disagreements can be settled through honest and direct Leave a message, and a conversations. journalism, including within their member of SPJ’s Ethics Here are some steps that can make those discussions organizations.” Committee will soon be more comfortable. in touch. • Journalists who are concerned about decisions or organizations have written directions on how to file com- behaviors in their newsrooms should research the issues. plaints or raise concerns. If a company doesn’t have a plan They can check the Society’s Code of Ethics and call the in place, the employees should ask for one to be drafted. Ethics Hotline. People should also look to the past to see if Once one is in place, it’s important that employees follow other journalists or news organizations encountered similar those guidelines. problems. Their experiences may unlock possible solutions. Journalists must also realize that not every discus- • Journalists should plan and rehearse their discussion will end on a positive note. Co-workers, managers, sion. They should boil their concerns down to brief state- producers and editors may not share an equal amount of ments. The person should also stress that the concern is respect for journalistic integrity or ethics, for example. If not being voiced out of bias against a co-worker but out of the issue is great enough, a journalist may need to decide concern for the journalistic integrity of the news organiza- whether they can continue working in that environment. tion. The person requesting the meeting should also come Hopefully these types of discussions rarely lead a prepared with a possible solution to offer. journalist to make that decision. What’s important is that • Journalists should be prepared for a range of re- journalists feel comfortable with the stance and approach actions. As much as we like to believe every person in they take to resolve ethical issues.t

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