A handout from longtime investigative reporter Frank X. Mullen’s discussion on why and how to be an effective open-records hunter, with special emphasis on the Nevada open-records law. This presentation -- Seven Habits of Highly Effective Open-Records Users -- was part of the Las Vegas NewsTrain on Oct. 10-11, 2014. Please see associated handouts: Document Scanners, FOIA Tipsheet from IRE, Nevada Open-Records Law Procedures, Open-Records Resources and True-False on Nevada Public Records Law. NewsTrain is a traveling workshop for journalists sponsored by Associated Press Media Editors. For more information, visit http://www.apme.com/?AboutNewsTrain

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More help with public records
Frank X. Mullen | donnerpartyboo@earthlink.net | Las Vegas NewsTrain | Oct. 10-11, 2014
Successful open-records hunters KNOW:
1) The public records law.
2) The exceptions to that law.
3) What records they need and who controls them
4) How to request them
5) How to deal with obstacles and defend records requests
6) How to find other routes to the records if initial efforts fail
7) That connections among records tell stories
Resources by state: Nevada
Nevada Freedom of Information Resources from the National Freedom of Information Council: http://www.nfoic.org/nevada-foi-resources
Nevada sample records-request letter: http://www.nfoic.org/nevada-sample-foia- request
A primer on Nevada’s public records law from the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada: http://www.aclunv.org/nevada-public-records
Nevada Press Association’s Reporters Legal Handbook: http://nevadapress.com/Handbook_index.html This page includes phone numbers for all Nevada county clerks and district attorneys. Chapter 2 deals with access to information, how to make a request under Nevada law, what records are closed by statute, how to deal with denial of access to records. It also includes information on the federal Freedom of Information Act, as well as information on the Nevada and federal open meetings laws.
Resources by state: Arizona
Arizona Freedom of Information Resources from the National Freedom of Information Council: http://www.nfoic.org/arizona-foi-resources
Arizona sample records-request letter: http://www.nfoic.org/arizona-sample-foia- request

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Resources by state: California
California Freedom of Information Resources from the National Freedom of Information Council: http://www.nfoic.org/california-foi-resources
California sample records-request letter: http://www.nfoic.org/california-sample-foia- request
Resources by state: Utah
Utah Freedom of Information Resources from the National Freedom of Information Council: http://www.nfoic.org/utah-foi-resources Utah sample records-request letter: http://www.nfoic.org/utah-sample-foia-request
Federal resources
A treasure trove of resources on public records at SPJ’s Journalist’s Toolbox: http://www.journaliststoolbox.org/archive/public-records/
FOIAMachine.org: https://www.foiamachine.org/ A request-letter generator and tracker with social support
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: http://www.rcfp.org/
Its iFOIA.org (request-letter generator and tracker): https://www.ifoia.org/#!/
Its Digital Journalist’s Legal Guide: http://bit.ly/RCFPLegalGuide
Its Legal Hotline: 1-800-336-4243 or ifoia-help@rcfp.org
MuckRock: https://www.muckrock.com/ Provides a free repository of hundreds of thousands of pages of original government materials. Filing requests through MuckRock starts at $20 to file up to 5 requests, which includes advice, postage, follow-up, and hosting of the materials. MuckRock is funded in part by grants from the Sunlight Foundation, the Freedom of the Press Foundation and the Knight Foundation.
Student Press Law Center: http://www.splc.org/
U.S. Department of Justice site on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA): http://www.foia.gov/
The Art of Access: Strategies for Acquiring Public Records, by David Cuillier and Charles N. Davis, CQ Press, 2010. A 200-page paperback: http://www.cqpress.com/product/Art-of-Access.html

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The Art of Access blog with quick list of links for help: http://theartofaccess.com/foi-resources/
GWU National Security Archive: http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/
Publishes declassified documents obtained under FOIA
The Sunshine in Government Initiative: http://sunshineingovernment.org/
A coalition of media groups dedicated to promoting openness in government.
Resources on public records and data
Five great online tools for mining public records: http://bit.ly/5toolsminingrecords From Truth-out.org
At least 25 databases every newsroom should have: http://bit.ly/25databases From David Donald, data editor for The Center for Public Integrity
Data-driven enterprise on any beat (PowerPoint): http://bit.ly/data- drivenenterprise From Jill Riepenhoff, projects reporter, The Columbus Dispatch
Data-driven enterprise off your beat (handout): http://bit.ly/data-drivenhandout From Riepenhoff
More help with obtaining public records + How to learn more about data journalism (handout): http://bit.ly/publicrecordsdatajournalism From Riepenhoff
Investigative-story ideas
Join Investigative Reporters and Editors for $70 ($25 as a student) a year: http://ire.org/membership/ It has tipsheets, a story archive, reporters’ resources and much more. Here’s a sample of what’s on its site, including tipsheets: http://bit.ly/IREtipsheets And the latest investigative stories: http://bit.ly/IREextraextra
Investigative reporting: keeping it relevant, keeping it local: http://bit.ly/investigativelocal by Paul D’Ambrosio, Asbury Park Press, for Nieman Reports
Resources on investigative reporting and backgrounding at SPJ’s Journalist’s Toolbox: http://www.journaliststoolbox.org/archive/investigative/
A review of recent investigative stories by the Center for Investigative Reporting: http://cironline.org/topics
10 quick tips on investigative reporting from the International Journalists’ Network: http://bit.ly/10tipsinvestigative