The Associated Press, which this week unveiled the results of a worldwide test of national access laws, is looking to do it again.
Having invited the public to make suggestions for the next topic, the AP may embark on another FOI-related project, according to AP officials.
The AP requested information on terrorism arrests and convictions of 105 countries, but only got answers from half of them. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) Readers are invited to submit suggestions for future freedom of information requests in any country at https://www.facebook.com/APNews.
The news agency says it is committed to “aggressive use” of freedom of information laws in its newsgathering, and Martha Mendoza, the author of the report, told FreedomInfo.org that AP is looking for ideas for another project.
“Breaking down the barriers to access that the government routinely puts in our way has become a regular part of news operations at AP,” she said, “We have developed an intense collaboration between AP journalists and lawyers, and we fight for information daily: fights to reduce fees, fights for more timely access to information, and fights to oppose the numerous roadblocks set before us in the form of exemptions and denials.”
“We see the worldwide FOI as a public service,” Medoza said, “both getting information to the public, and holding governments accountable to their promises of transparency.”
Looking ahead, she said:
A lot will depend on the kind of feedback AP gets, both from readers and from people like you in the FOI community. We would like to continue to test FOI laws worldwide, and we are open to ideas about collaboration with researchers, but…
1. We would need to come up with something very compelling to ask for. We’re hoping readers will submit ideas on our Facebook page to get that rolling. The terror arrests and convictions story was important. What next?
2. And we’d need to know that this is worth our time and effort. There are always cost-benefit balances to meet, and this has taken a lot of time and effort.
John Daniszewski, AP’s senior managing editor for international news and photos in a statement announcing the FOI project: “This week’s report on the effectiveness of freedom of information laws worldwide reflects AP’s commitment to government access and our aggressive use of FOI regulations in newsgathering. In many places, our reporting shows, government officials work to thwart transparency, and individuals who seek to use their rights to learn government secrets are subjected to persecution, including incarceration and physical violence.”
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