Los Angeles Times issues guide to California public records, invites public input

The Los Angeles Times has published a guide to California public records with advice about covering public meetings, obtaining records and interpreting financial details. The Times has also asked readers to send in government records of interest that the staff would review and post on the public records website along with records posted by Times [...]

Secrecy News criticizes WikiLeaks

Secrecy News’ Steven Aftergood argues that there is good reason for the Knight Foundation’s refusal to fund WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks, he says, has failed to increase government openness and accountability. -db Secrecy News June 28, 2010 By Steven Aftergood In the past week, both the Washington Post and the New York Times have referred to WikiLeaks.org, [...]

Obama administration making headway in transparency efforts

While its efforts have been criticized, the Obama administration has launched promising initiatives to bring accountability and transparency to government and continues to work on improvements. -DB OMB Watch Commentary August 18, 2009 At the close of President Obama’s first 200 days in office, the administration has demonstrated a willingness to experiment with new technologies and [...]

Law proposed to shed light on state university foundations

University officials claim that a law forcing disclosure financial dealings of nonprofit university foundations serving state institutions would be too costly. Open government advocates say that recent expenditures, illegal or questionable, show the need for disclosure. -DB Capitol Weekly August 13, 2009 By Maryam Ali Free-speech groups are trying to force the state’s public universities to [...]