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03/16/2005
Project brings readers, officials into FOI discussions
NEW YORK (AP) -- Newspaper readers and government officials
will be invited to talk with journalists about the importance
of access to public records under a project launched Wednesday
by the Associated Press Managing Editors Association.
The APME First Amendment Project will encourage newspapers
to improve local coverage of freedom of information issues
and to engage in conversations with readers, public officials
and community leaders about those issues through roundtable
discussions.
The project also will help newspapers communicate with their
communities through other means such as online, interactive
reader panels.
"We want to make readers part of the conversation about
freedom of information," said APME President Deanna Sands,
managing editor of the Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald.
"Too often, FOI-related discussions sound like they involve
only narrow news media interests or, perhaps, the news media
and political entities. These conversations are important
to all of us as citizens."
In the pilot phase of the project, APME has formed partnerships
with newspapers in four cities to do freedom of information
projects. The newspapers are the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News;
The News Journal of Wilmington, Del.; the Times Union of Albany,
N.Y.; and The Arizona Republic of Phoenix and the Arizona
Daily Star of Tucson, Ariz., which are joining on a combined
project.
A trainer will work with each newspaper to develop a stronger
understanding of freedom of information issues while helping
journalists better understand concerns by public figures and
ordinary people about issues like privacy. The project also
will help them hold community conversations with citizens
and information gatekeepers about the need for unfettered
access to information as a cornerstone of a democratic society.
"A troubling issue faced by the news media is that the
public frequently is unsympathetic or hostile to our attempts
to have transparency in government," said Steve Sidlo,
chairman of APME's First Amendment Committee and managing
editor of the Dayton newspaper.
"Our aim is to help ordinary citizens as well as the
gatekeepers of public records to better understand the value
to society of the free flow of information about government."
The community discussions will build on the success of APME's
National Credibility Roundtables Project, which has worked
with more than 160 news organizations around the country to
discuss matters of credibility with local citizens. Participating
newspapers can select their own topics, such as the unavailability
of records locally or limitations by the federal Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act on information that previously
was available to the public and the news media.
The First Amendment projects are to be completed by September.
Results will be presented during the APME annual conference
Oct. 26-29 in San Jose, Calif.
The project is funded by a $40,000 grant from the Associated
Press Managing Editors Association Foundation Inc., a charitable
organization related to the APME association. Funding is through
support contributed by individuals and newspaper companies
honoring Louis D. Boccardi upon his retirement as president
and chief executive officer of The Associated Press in 2003.
APME is an association of editors at AP's more than 1,500
newspapers in the U.S. and publications affiliated with the
Canadian Press in Canada.
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On the Net:
APME: http://www.apme.com
Sunshine Week: http://www.sunshineweek.org
AP FOI Web Site: http://www.ap.org/FOI/public.html
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