Publication Items

A survey of 66 top-level U.S. editors suggests that the media's ability to defend the First Amendment is wilting — and that lack of money is one of the problems. The survey was conducted by a partnership of Knight Foundation, the American Society of News Editors, the Associated Press Media Editors, and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

The Senate March 15, 2016, unanimously passed a bill (S 337) improving the 50-year-old Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). But the appearance of bipartisan consensus may belie a rocky road to final enactment in a highly politicized election year.

The Senate Energy Committee last November approved a different version of the bill which seems to include an exemption from fees and permits for "news gathering." But whether it will pass on the floor or get reconciled with the House bill in an election year is unknown.

Maine passed a law in 2015 that allowed railroads to keep oil-train routing information from the public — over the governor's veto. In the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting's Pine Tree Watchdog, Dave Sherwood reports how the provision was a bait-and-switch.