Transparency in government is theme of National Summit meeting in Minneapolis June 5-6
Early June access advocates from most of the fifty states will gather in Minneapolis to discuss the challenge of “protecting the public’s right to oversee its government.” This is the 2009 Summit of the National Freedom of Information Coalition. This year’s Summit, hosted locally by the Minnesota Coalition on Government Information, meets June 5-6 at the Marriott City Center.
The NFOIC is a coalition of coalitions. States approach the challenge of access in a variety of ways. Minnesota’s approach, defined in the state Data Practices Act, rests on an assumption of openness, i.e. information by and about the government is open unless specifically restricted. Other states take the opposite approach.
Keynote speaker for the national Summit is Paul Anger, vice president and editor of the Detroit Free Press. The Press played a key role in the controversy surrounding the former Mayor of Detroit, his firing of whistleblowers, and the text messages that exposed his lies under oath. The existence and implementation of the Michigan Freedom of Information Act was a key factor in the media’s ability to help the public learn the truth.
Several Minnesota speakers are on the Summit agenda. Minnesota speakers include James Shiffer, reporter and editor with the Star Tribune, Jane Kirtley, Professor of Media Ethics and Law with the U of M School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Joel Kramer, CEO and Editor of MinnPost, Mary Jo McGuire, former legislator and faculty member at the College of St. Catherine, Legislative Auditor James R. Nobles, and State Auditor Rebecca Otto.
Full information, including registration, available online. The registration fee is waived for students at every level.
For additional information contact:
Mary Treacy, Executive Director
Minnesota Coalition on Government Information
mtreacy@onvoymail.com 612 781 4234