Freedom of information in the United States relates to the public's ability to access government records,meetings,and other information. In the United States,freedom of information legislation exists at all levels of government:federal level,state level,and local level.
Operation Mockingbird is an alleged large-scale program of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that began in the early years of the Cold War and attempted to manipulate domestic American news media organizations for propaganda purposes. According to author Deborah Davis,Operation Mockingbird recruited leading American journalists into a propaganda network and influenced the operations of front groups. CIA support of front groups was exposed when an April 1967 Ramparts article reported that the National Student Association received funding from the CIA. In 1975,Church Committee Congressional investigations revealed Agency connections with journalists and civic groups.
The Freedom of Information Act,5 U.S.C. § 552,is the United States federal freedom of information law that requires the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased or uncirculated information and documents controlled by the U.S. government upon request. The act defines agency records subject to disclosure,outlines mandatory disclosure procedures,and includes nine exemptions that define categories of information not subject to disclosure. The act was intended to make U.S. government agencies' functions more transparent so that the American public could more easily identify problems in government functioning and put pressure on Congress,agency officials,and the president to address them. The FOIA has been changed repeatedly by both the legislative and executive branches.
The National Security Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-governmental,non-profit research and archival institution located on the campus of the George Washington University in Washington,D.C. Founded in 1985 to check rising government secrecy. The National Security Archive is an investigative journalism center,open government advocate,international affairs research institute,and the largest repository of declassified U.S. documents outside the federal government. The National Security Archive has spurred the declassification of more than 15 million pages of government documents by being the leading non-profit user of the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA),filing a total of more than 70,000 FOIA and declassification requests in its over 35+ years of history.
The Daily Iowan is an independent,6,500-circulation student newspaper serving Iowa City and the University of Iowa community. During the 2020–2021 academic year The Daily Iowan transitioned from printing daily to producing a print edition of the paper twice a week and publishing stories online daily. It has consistently won a number of collegiate journalism awards,including six National Pacemaker Awards in 2000,2001,2006,2008,2013,and 2020. The Daily Iowan was named Newspaper of the Year by the Iowa Newspaper Association four times,including in 2020 and 2021.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press(RCFP) is a nonprofit organization based in Washington,D.C.,that provides pro bono legal services and resources to and on behalf of journalists. The organization pursues litigation,offers direct representation,submits amicus curiae briefs,and provides other legal assistance on matters involving the First Amendment,press freedom,freedom of information,and court access issues.
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation,also known as the Knight Foundation,is an American non-profit foundation that provides grants for journalism,communities,and the arts.
James V. Grimaldi is an American journalist who serves as executive editor of the National Catholic Reporter. He was previously an investigative reporter and senior writer with the Wall Street Journal. He has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize three times,for investigative reporting in 1996 with the staff of the Orange County Register, in 2006 for his work on the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal while working for The Washington Post,and in 2023 with the staff of the Wall Street Journal for its capital assets series.
The Student Press Law Center (SPLC) is a non-profit organization that aims to promote,support and defend press freedom rights for student journalists at high schools and colleges in the United States. It is dedicated to student free-press rights and provides information,advice and legal assistance at no charge for students and educators.
Charles William Isenhart is an American politician. A Democrat,he has represented the 72nd District in the Iowa House of Representatives since 2008.
Wanda Garner Cash is an author and the event director of the Texas Arts &Crafts Fair at the Hill Country Arts Foundation in Ingram,Texas. Cash retired in 2016 as associate director of the School of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin. During her long journalism career,Cash was an advocate for open government,speaker,commentator,expert witness and media adviser on open government issues to former Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. Her most recent book is "Pancho Villa's Saddle at the Cadillac Bar."
The Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award is presented annually by Colby College to a member of the newspaper profession who has contributed to the country's journalistic achievement. The award is named for Elijah Parish Lovejoy,and established in 1952.
Russell John Carollo was an American Pulitzer prize-winning journalist,who worked as an investigative reporter for numerous publications,including the Dayton Daily News,the Los Angeles Times,and The Sacramento Bee.
Elizabeth Ann Mathis is an American politician,non-profit executive and former broadcast journalist who has served as an Iowa State Senator since 2011. A member of the Democratic Party,she was elected to represent the 18th district in a November 2011 special election and re-elected to the redrawn 34th district in 2012. Mathis was the Democratic nominee for Iowa's 1st congressional district in 2022,losing the general election to incumbent Republican Ashley Hinson.
Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) is a non-profit organization founded in 2012 to fund and support free speech and freedom of the press. The organization originally managed crowd-funding campaigns for independent journalistic organizations,but now pursues technical projects to support journalists' digital security and conducts legal advocacy for journalists.
MuckRock is a United States-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which assists anyone in filing governmental requests for information through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and other public record laws around the United States,then publishes the returned information on its website and encourages journalism around it.
Nabiha Syed is an American technology lawyer and executive. Syed was the chief executive officer of The Markup,a data-driven media startup. She has been described as "one of the best emerging free speech lawyers" by Forbes magazine. In 2023,Syed was recognized as a transformational leader in digital civil rights by the NAACP. On May 15,2024,Syed became the executive director of the Mozilla Foundation.
Ronald T. Farrar was an American journalist and academic. He was the chair of the Journalism Department at Southern Methodist University and University of Mississippi,and he later became the director of the School of Journalism at the University of Kentucky. He retired from academia as the Reynolds-Faunt Professor of Journalism at the University of South Carolina (USC) in 2001. He was the author of several academic books on journalism.
Seung Min Kim is an American journalist who is a White House correspondent for the Associated Press and a political analyst for CNN.
Lucy Ann Dalglish is an American journalist,attorney,and professor and former dean at the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism.
