The Masthead back issues from June 2002:
Openness erodes in pieces. (Editors Note).(public records and open government)(Brief Article)(Editorial)
Jun 22, 2002; ... Name any city, any state, any country. As you are reading this, someone somewhere is trying to strip the public of its right to know, its right to speak. Someone is trying to seal public records, close government meetings, or privately alter public policies. We all have ...
Editorialists are leaders in guarding First Amendment.(Brief Article)
Jun 22, 2002; ... In today's marketplace of ideas, the emphasis tends to be on the marketplace rather than the ideas. Consider the confrontational nature of today's television talk shows. Pundits face off in a format to produce heat rather than light. It's all debate and no discussion. ...
Participatory democracy depends upon open records, open meetings.(Brief Article)
Jun 22, 2002; ... Even in colonial days, the concept of open government was a strong current in this nation's surge toward independence and freedom. Chafing under British rule in which they had little or no participation and under local representatives of the king, who made decisions cloaked in ...
Florida editors unite to protect Sunshine Law.(Brief Article)
Jun 22, 2002 ... In a letter dated February 5, leaders of the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors wrote to colleagues that "ominous clouds" were threatening the state's Sunshine Law. FSNE president Patrick Yack and public-access committee co-chairs Tim Franklin and Neil Brown made an unprecedented ...
Horse manure and the Cheney Test: survey shows access is not a concern just for journalists.(Dick Cheney)(Brief Article)
Jun 22, 2002; ... When Dick Cheney turned 35, his pals in the White House threw a party at which -- surprise! -- I popped Out of a cake. Times have changed. Now he's 60, vice president, and the symbol of official inaccessability. Surprising him today might be a capital offense. What a turnabout ....
Excerpts from Sunshine Sunday editorials, all published March 10.(Florida freedom of information laws)(Editorial)
Jun 22, 2002; ... As the eyes and ears of the public, the press is generally seen as the chief beneficiary of the open-records law--and the chief villain by politicians who prefer to operate in secret. But countless points of access also benefit individual citizens. So secrecy-loving politicians ...
The legislative assault: proposed Sunshine exemptions protect special interests, not citizens.(Florida public records)(Brief Article)
Jun 22, 2002; ... Floridians enjoy the most permissive governmental oversight and public access laws in the nation, laws that set the standard for open government in most states and many foreign countries. Under the state constitution, the records and meetings of government are presumed open to the public, ...
Courts key to strength of Florida's Sunshine Law.(freedom of information)(access to public records)(Brief Article)
Jun 22, 2002; ... Floridians believe that our Government-in-the-Sunshine Law is the strongest open meetings law in the world. The law simply requires that "[a]ll meetings of any board or commission of any (state or local governmental body) at which official acts are to be taken are declared to be public ...
American Civil Liberties Union. (On the Internet).(Brief Article)
Jun 22, 2002 ... www.aclu.org The leading advocate for free speech in the nation, this group also monitors access issues. The website offers a comprehensive archive ...
American Society of Newspaper Editors. (On the Internet).(Brief Article)
Jun 22, 2002 ... www.asne.org Look here for pending changes in access laws (like the recent changes in Freedom of Information policy following September 11). Along with The Freedom ...
The Brechner Center for Freedom of Information. (On the Internet).(Brief Article)
Jun 22, 2002 ... www.jou.ufl.edu/brechner/index.htm THE BRECHNER CENTER provides assistance to ...
Electronic Freedom Foundation. (On the Internet).(Brief Article)
Jun 22, 2002 ... www.eff.org EFF fights for freedom of expression on the Internet, with an archive of its pending legal actions and a primer on free speech in cyberspace, including a thorough dissection of rules that restrict ...
Findlaw. (On the Internet).(Brief Article)
Jun 22, 2002 ... www.findlaw.com The First Amendment page has one of the most comprehensive ...
The Freedom Forum. (On the Internet).(Brief Article)
Jun 22, 2002 ... www.freedomforum.org This group advocates for First Amendment issues. Many of its periodic reports ...
The National Freedom of Information Coalition. (On the Internet).(Brief Article)
Jun 22, 2002 ... www.nfoic.org This is a collaboration among several advocacy groups to foster openness in government ...
Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press. (On the Internet).(www.rcfp.org)(Brief Article)
Jun 22, 2002 ... www.rcfp.org The site offers updates on pending cases and offers free legal help for journalists facing First Amendment and access ...
Endorsing in primaries is critical.
Jun 22, 2002; ... As I finish this, it is 43 hours from Colorado lift-off Colorado as in not Illinois. Lift as in ski. Off as in off work, off the computer, off the phone, off the candidates, off the elections. When the last endorsement fills our editorial page's last available inch, skiing is my reward. ...
A case for printing 'name withheld' letters.
Jun 22, 2002; ... Few things will get an opinion page editor riled up as will the suggestion that more newspapers should honor "name withheld" requests on letters to the editor. Editors will defend the sanctity of their "must sign" policies, arguing that they are upholding the principles of democracy, ...
An Idaho iconoclast steps down.(editor A. L. "Butch" Alford, Jr.)
Jun 22, 2002; ... When Bill Hall arrived at Idaho's Lewiston Morning Tribune in 1965, his future publisher wondered whether Hall was feisty enough to lead the family-owned daily's editorial page. "Our readers were accustomed to a hard-hitting opinion style and they rather enjoyed being offended," ...
The bogus editorial voice in Canada.(Brief Article)
Jun 22, 2002; ... Occasionally, The New York Times editorializes on the Yankees, as it did in a piece called "The Likable Yankees" last October. But The New York Times Company, which owns the Boston Globe (and as of January, a stake in the Red Sox), would never direct the Globe to run the same editorial ....
Nashville: relevant, affordable, fun.(conference in Nashville, TN)
Jun 22, 2002; ... Make yourself indispensable to your news paper and more relevant in your community. Get your professional batteries recharged. Learn from the mistakes of others and copy their successes. Have fun. And do it all at a price that even the cheapest publisher will accept. Mark your ...
Casey, Semion run for secretary.(Maura Casey, Kay Semion)(Brief Article)
Jun 22, 2002 ... Maura Casey and Kay Semion are running for NCEW secretary. The person who is elected will join the executive team, moving up to president in four years. Casey is associate editor of The Day in New London, Connecticut. Semion is associate editor of the editorial pages at the ...
Six chosen to run for NCEW board.
Jun 22, 2002 ... Three of six candidates will be chosen this fall to serve two-year terms on the NCEW board of directors. The nominees are: * Harry Austin, editorial page editor of The Chattanooga Times Free Press. * R. Thomas Berner, professor of journalism and American studies at ...
Portland a city of 'smart growth'.(Portland, OR)(Brief Article)
Jun 22, 2002; ... EDITOR'S NOTE: Because the Pittsburgh convention was cancelled, the NCEW board agreed to postpone a vote on the site selection for 2005 until the Nashville meeting. Selection for the 2006 convention will be decided next year. The bids from Portland and Phoenix are reprinted here. ...
In Phoenix, everything is grand.(Brief Article)
Jun 22, 2002; ... The grandeur of the Grand Canyon. The restorative solitude of a Mexican beach. A rich Native American culture, vibrant international trade, and a leading center for Mars exploration. You'll find it all in and around Phoenix. These are just some of the reasons NCEW should select ...
Make a good mission better. (NCEW Foundation).(Brief Article)
Jun 22, 2002; ... As anyone who was paying attention in the past 18 months knows all too well, the return from the 2001 recession has been a welcome, but slow, recovery of investment portfolios. That goes as well for the NCEW Foundation endowment. Although the Foundation was successful in ...
Grateful for the First Amendment. (President's Letter).(Brief Article)
Jun 22, 2002 ... Many of us I suspect, have had a moment like this. We are at our computers, writing an editorial taking issue with some governmental action. Suddenly there is this flash of gratitude that the First Amendment is protecting not only our words, but also our lives. For ...
A farewell to two legendary past presidents. (Obituaries).(Obituary)(Brief Article)
Jun 22, 2002 ... Brian Dickinson and Joe Stroud, who were editorial voices of courage in their respective states -- Rhode Island and Michigan -- and nurturing leaders of NCEW, both died within days of each other in early May. Dickinson of the Providence Journal and Stroud of the Detroit Free ...
Founding member Dwight E. Sargent dies.(Obituary)
Jun 22, 2002 ... When about 100 editorial writers and editors gathered in Washington, D.C., in 1947 for the first NCEW meeting, Dwight E. Sargent was there. From that time on, Sargent's support of NCEW never wavered. He never missed a convention for the next 41 years. Sargent was 85 when he died ...