The federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a key tool for journalists trying to pry information out of the government, was signed into law July 4, 1966. Open government groups have started a 50-day countdown to the law's 50th anniversary. It remains to be seen whether Congress can send President Obama a fix-FOIA bill by that date.

The#FixFOIAby50 campaign, a coalition spearheaded by OpenTheGovernment.org and the Sunshine in Government Initiative, is pushing Congress to finalize legislation already passed overwhelmingly in different versions by both House and Senate. Their portal page [2] includes links to thorough analysis and comparison of the two bills and the reason why FOIA can and should be fixed.

• Previous Story: WatchDog of April 27, 2016. [3]