Saturday, April 26, 2008

More on access to public information

My students at GRCC, in the JR 257 Reporting class, again ran into problems obtaining public information from the college. I have done the same assignment at GVSU with no problem, but GRCC is not cooperating with student requests for information. It is perplexing and disturbing. This gets me frustrated and a bit angry.
I want my students to learn to be journalists - or at least what it's like to be a journalist. I guess this is a teachable moment for them. The truth is, not everyone will cooperate. Even when they are required to by law.
The funny thing is, what starts as a simple request for public information can escalate when public information is not turned over as requested. The questions are natural for reporters: What are they hiding? Why aren't they handing over the information? What is really going on?
While officials apparently are trying to keep information from reporters, they are actually only heightening the interest in that information.

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