The U.S. Freedom of Information Act turned 46 on July 4, 2012.  Today’s blog contains reminders of those whose sacrifices made our access to government information possible.

For instance, Judith Miller (though herself controversial among journalists) spent 12 weeks in jail  in order to defend her right to refuse disclosure of her sources and, on a grander scale, your right to do the same.  Whistleblowers across the globe continue to expose wrongdoing, often risking retaliation or the loss of their career.   Some  journalists risk or sacrifice their lives fighting to obtain information from the government.

This was the case for Satbir Sharma, from India, whose wife was killed and father wounded in retributive action by their mayor, Dharamvir Malik, The Associated Press reported. The Sharma family had previously filed a corruption report against Malik using information obtained through India’s new right to know law.

Our country affords us the privilege to fight to secure additional freedoms. One example of this was seen with Utah’s infamous House Bill 477.  The bill included — among other provisions — an exemption for legislators’ text and instant messages. The bill passed and went into effect immediately.  However, the media and public responded en masse,  and Utah Governor Gary Herbert and the legislature repealed the law shortly thereafter. He and other GOP leaders in the state then commissioned a working group to address the problems with Utah’s open access laws.  Ultimately, many of the recommendations from the working group were included in this year’s S.B. 177.  A  Utah state ombudsman position and  mandatory online online training for records offices are two of the transparency measures from this bill.

Journalists carry the responsibility to be the fourth estate and help keep the government accountable. We are the beneficiaries of the tenacity of  trailblazers who showed headstrong commitment to open government and freedom of information. We need to continue to encourage the passage of a federal shield law so sources can expose wrongdoing without undue fear of reprisal or discovery.  We need to fight for more federal agencies to adopt stronger whistleblower protections. In short, we need to do more to secure citizens’ rights to government information.

Read more:

• Information on the U.S. Freedom of Information law.
• The National Security Archive compiled 46 headlines from the past year that showcase FOI successes.
• More on the 46th anniversary of the Freedom of Information Act at openthegovernment.org.
• Check out the bi-partisan faster FOI effort by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas).

Whitney is the summer Pulliam/Killgore intern with SPJ. She recently graduated from Brigham Young University after studying journalism. Connect with her via email –  wevans@hq.spj.org –  or on twitter – @whitevs7

*Know something about Freedom of Information that you think we should cover in a blog post? We want to hear from you! Send information to wevans@HQ.SPJ.org. It may be featured in a future post.

Two freedom of information watchdogs, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and OpenTheGovernment.org, have released a joint report on compliance with the Freedom of Information Act by 15 major federal agencies, according to a report in the Federal Times. The study compares FOIA compliance data from FY 2008 and FY 2010, the first full fiscal year that President Obama has been in office.

From the introduction to the report:

“The results paint a very mixed picture on the FOIA front, with agencies generally processing more requests more quickly, but also increasing their reliance on the FOIA’s nine exemptions to withhold more information from the public.  Our analysis revealed an even more alarming truth:  the government’s FOIA data is flawed, making it impossible to assess key areas of progress and casting doubt on its overall reliability.”

Below are some highlights. Read the full report here: Measuring Transparency Under the FOIA: The Real Story Behind the Numbers.

• Exemptions claimed have risen by 33 percent.
• The Justice Department cited more frequent exemptions; the Department of Treasury had the most significant decline in exemptions.
• A majority of agencies had made progress in dealing with the backlog of FOIA requests, from 126,200 at the end of FY 2008 to 64,500 at the end of FY 2010.
• The overall number of requests increased by 11 percent, while compliance with requests has risen 8 percent.