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News :: Civil & Human Rights : Elections & Legislation : Government Secrecy |
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FOIA AT FORTY |
Current rating: 0 |
by via Secrecy News
(No verified email address) |
05 Jul 2006
|
The fortieth anniversary of the Freedom of Information Act,
signed into law by President Johnson on July 4, 1966, was marked
with the release of several interesting and informative
publications. |
The fortieth anniversary of the Freedom of Information Act,
signed into law by President Johnson on July 4, 1966, was marked
with the release of several interesting and informative
publications.
The colorful and contentious history behind the adoption of the
Act was described by Tom Blanton of the National Security
Archive based on documents obtained from the Johnson Library.
See "Freedom of Information at 40":
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB194/index.htm
The legislative history of the Freedom of Information Act is
newly available from the National Security Archive here:
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/foialeghistory/legistfoia.htm
The FOIA improvement plans that were recently developed by
executive branch agencies were critically assessed by
OpenTheGovernment.org in a new report. See "FOIA's 40th
Anniversary: Agencies Respond to the President's Call for
Improved Disclosure of Information":
http://www.openthegovernment.org/
"The federal government continues to fall further behind in
getting information to people seeking public records under the
Freedom of Information Act," according to a study by the
Coalition of Journalists for Open Government:
http://www.cjog.net/documents/.pdf
"By far the heaviest use of the Freedom of Information Act comes
from the nation's businesses, seeking government records on
contracts or for a host of other commercial uses," another
Coalition report found:
http://www.cjog.net/documents/Who_Uses_FOIA2.pdf
Sixty-eight countries now have freedom of information statutes,
according to an updated survey by David Banisar published by
freedominfo.org. See "Freedom of Information Around the World
2006":
http://www.freedominfo.org/countries/index.htm
I chatted with reporter Julie Corwin of Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty about "40 Years Of The Freedom Of Information Act" here:
http://tinyurl.com/h8uqo
_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the
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