Free Flowing Information

Good news for a number of our Free Speech grantees: After much testimony and hard work, both the House and Senate have passed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reform bill. Now it's headed to the President's desk for approval. According to the Coalition of Journalists for Open Government (an MTF grantee), the bill "creates a FOIA ombudsman, creates an agency penalty for not responding to a FOIA request promptly, requires improved agency reporting on FOIA performance and will allow requesters who sue to recover legal fees if an (agency) grants the records before a court ruling."

The bill comes after a number of studies and stories showed the federal government is abysmal at processing FOIA requests in a timely manner.

To view the text of the Open Government Act of 2007, visit: http://www.cjog.net/documents/Open_Government_Act_text.pdf

Read the full story

Journalists in Iraq Rate Themselves

After four years of war in Iraq, the journalists reporting from that country give their coverage a mixed but generally positive assessment. They believe they have done a better job of covering the American military and the insurgency than they have the lives of ordinary Iraqis. And they do not believe the coverage of Iraq over time has been too negative. If anything, many believe the situation over the course of the war has been worse than the American public has perceived, according to a new survey of journalists covering the war from Iraq.

To view the entire Project for Excellence in Journalism survey, conducted Sept. 28 through Nov. 7, click here.

Read the full story

Gannett Co. Recoups Legal Fees in FOIA Case

The federal government will pay $105,000 in attorney fees for the News-Press after the Fort Myers, FL newspaper and two other Gannett Co. newspapers successfully sued the Department of Homeland Security for the release of public records. The News-Press, the Pensacola News Journal and Florida Today had challenged the department's Federal Emergency Management Agency refusal to release details on the 1.1 million recipients of $1.2 billion in hurricane-related disaster aid. The News-Press hailed the U.S. Court of Appeals decision, which included the legal fees, as a victory for the First Amendment and the public's right to know, according to the News-Press. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and a number of other MTF grantees are among the leaders in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) movement. Their advocacy, legal assistance and monitoring of FOIA activities has becoming increasingly important as government agencies continue to stonewall and challenge requests for release of public information.

Read the full story

World 'Divided' on Press Freedom

You have two doors to choose from: #1 is marked press freedom and #2 stability. Choose. Quick. No questions.

Well, some disturbing news for press-freedom advocates: In a global survey that posed essentially that question, about 40 percent said it was more important to maintain social harmony and peace, even if it meant curbing the press’s freedom to report truthfully. That means a lot of people chose option #2.

The survey, which looked at views in 14 countries, also covered:
+ Whether people feel the press can operate freely in their country
+ How good a job respondents feel the press does in covering news accurately
+ The concentration of private media in the hands of fewer large companies.

Interestingly, in the U.S., Britain and Germany, about 29 percent thought the press does a good job of reporting news accurately.

See the study at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7134918.stm

Read the full story

Funds for New Voices

Got the next big great idea for a community news start-up? Then The New Voices grant program of J-Lab wants to hear it, and potentially fund it. J-Lab, the Institute for Interactive Journalism at the University of Maryland and an MTF grantee, is currently accepting applications for new community news iniatives. The rules - in brief - are that the venture has to be new, must be news or information-oriented (no advocacy), must be online and open to the public. Grants are one-time only and for a maximum of $17,000.

Few programs or organizations provide specific start-up funding, so it's a rare opportunity worth exploring if you have the next big idea for covering your community. For more info and application information, visit: http://www.j-newvoices.org/

The deadline is Feb. 20.

Read the full story

The 2008 McCormick Tribune Fellows

We're proud to announce that we've selected a talented new crop of McCormick Tribune Fellows for 2008. These experienced minority media executives hail from a diverse range of positions in print, broadcast and online news media. They will join a pool of more than 80 alumni at media companies across the country:

Rodney Brooks, USA Today
Sharon Wilmore, Detroit Free Press
Carole Carmichael, The Seattle Times
Terrence Williams, New York Times Co.
Johnita Due, CNN
Orlando Rosales, WTPH 14 - Azteca America
Shiree Woody, WBBH-NBC2 & WZVN-ABC7
Jayme Ribeiro Neto, WRMD Telemundo Tampa

The Fellowship is a unique executive development program that targets high-performing diverse senior managers and execs in the news media. Through training, research and convening, the program's goal is to increase the number and impact of minority media executives.

For more on the McCormick Tribune Fellowship, visit the web site at: www.MTFellows.org

Read the full story