Creating transparency
- 1. Creating Transparency: TheState of "Watchdog" Sites on Campus Newspaper Websites Jacob Blair Department of Communication
- 2. Intro • Purposeof the project was to examine college newspapers in Kentucky and to look at well-recognized college newspaper websites across the nation in order to create a suggested list of documents to be posted on college newspaper websites.
- 3. Background • KentuckyOpen Records Law ▫Grew out of movement addressing government accountability after Watergate. ▫Open Meetings Act was passed in 1974. ▫Open Records Act passed in 1976. • All “Sunshine” laws are not created equally.
- 4. Kentucky University OpenRecords Audit • Since I physically could not travel to every single university in Kentucky and inspect records, I asked for statistics about media organizations to be emailed to me from between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30 of this year. • NOTE: If you’re asking for information and NOT a copy of records or to inspect them, the records custodians are not required to accept your request. • However, some did.
- 5. • EKU: 7requests filed by The Eastern Progress (most probably from me…), 3 by the Richmond Register, 2 by the USA Today, 1 by the Lexington Herald-Leader, The Kentucky Gazette, Southeast Missourian, and the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting. • WKU: 12 requests made by College Heights Herald (WKU’s student newspaper), 2 by USA Today and 1 by Associated Press. • UofL: 84 records in quick search by records custodian. Would provide records for nominal fee. • Part of this research project was to learn how universities respond to open records requests.
- 6. Utilization of PublicRecords - Analysis • What did I use as the basis of my analysis? ▫ 2013 and 2014 Princeton Review’s Top 20 college newspapers. ▫ SPJ Mark of Excellence national/regional winners and finalists. ▫ Kentucky college newspapers. • What key words did I search for? ▫ Public records ▫ Open records ▫ Police beat ▫ Crime log & other variants.
- 7. Results • Ofthe more than 110 newspaper websites examined, only four sites posted the public records requests they filed and three sites posted documents obtained through a records request. • There are really so few newspapers doing this, even though we have the technology now to post documents. Even if the documents are available, it’s hard for the general public to access sometimes.
- 8. • Provides statecode regarding public records listed below the table. • Only two records listed online but thoroughly detailed.
- 9. •Link to website that explains North Carolina public records.
- 10. •A lot of records requests are still pending. •Mentions open records request process on the page. •Requests posted since Jan. 2014.
- 11. •Provide links to documents.
- 12. •“Documents relating tothe departure of Angela Koshewa.”
- 13. •Describes process forfiling a public records request. •Makes administrator contracts available for viewing. •Features budgets of employee salaries, capital projects and more.
- 14. What is thesolution to increasing records publication online? • In a utopian society, a real solution would be that these documents were easily accessible and the university would be as transparent as possible and post all the available records and not hide any discrepancies, however that is not the case. • In the meantime, it is up to college journalists to uncover the truth and to post documents in line with a mission to keep the public informed about the government.
- 15. What records shouldstudent newspapers ask for? •Crime Reports •Budgets •University Foundation’s IRS 1099 Form •Donation Records •Maintenance Work Orders •Building Inspections •Personnel Records (President and Vice Presidents Contracts)
- 16. What records shouldstudent newspapers ask for? •Meal Plans •Laundry Contracts •Vendor Lists •Requests to Inspect Records
- 17. Conclusion •As Editorof The Eastern Progress, I resolve to go after this information and make it available to the campus community.