Access to Government Information - Sources Select Resources

Access to Electronic Records
A State by State Guide to Obtaining Government Data
Resource Type: Article/Report/Letter
Published: 2003
Reporters have a tool that allows them to report on entire populations and do original analysis on a subject for their stories, rather than relying solely on anecdotes. Computer-assisted reporting helps journalists do important stories that otherwise would not be covered.
Banamex v. Narco News Precedent Protects WikiLeaks, Too
Resource Type: Article/Report/Letter
Published: 2010
The story – one that defines the times we live in - has been going on for a while now: State power (and that includes private-sector “states” such as corporations and commercial media organizations) can no longer hide behind commercial (and State-owned) media to consolidate and centralize power when citizens deploy decentralized, small scale, and even temporary media resistances outside of those institutions in these ways that make big media irrelevant.
Decision not file charges in CIA video destruction deals new setback to right to information
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article/Report/Letter
Published: 2010
The decision not to file charges against any of the CIA officers who destroyed 92 videos of interrogations in secret CIA prisons has dealt a new blow to the search for truth in a matter of public interest and to the public’s right of access.
IFJ Condemns United States "Desperate and Dangerous" Backlash over WikiLeaks
Sources News Release
Resource Type: Article/Report/Letter
Published: 2010
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today condemned the political backlash being mounted against the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks and accused the United States of attacking free speech after it put pressure on the website's host.
Information Access
Sources Select Resources Encyclopedia
Resource Type: Article/Report/Letter
The Secret Secret
Of Wikileaks and Literacy
Resource Type: Article/Report/Letter
Published: 2010
Only those with proper clearances can participate in discussions that affect significant aspects of our lives. Certain technological achievements, our collective ethical decisions (torture, secret prisons, air strikes, etc.), our collective behavior towards other nations and peoples (foreign policy discussions) and more are often obscured by state secrecy. Like the medieval clergy, those holding classified clearances are the sole legitimate interpreters of the 'really important' knowledge. In effect, they are a caste that guides our political and technological cosmologies.
The Truth Will Always Win
Resource Type: Article/Report/Letter
Published: 2010
In its landmark ruling in the Pentagon Papers case, the US Supreme Court said "only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government". The swirling storm around WikiLeaks today reinforces the need to defend the right of all media to reveal the truth.
A War on Wikileaks?
Unhinged at the US State Department and Pentagon
Resource Type: Article/Report/Letter
Published: 2010
If the state fails to make any sense - not surprising - it is because it is has no intention of doing so. The state is appealing to something more visceral with all of this posturing: fear. It wants to strike fear into the minds and bodies of people working with Wikileaks, or anyone else doing such work, and anyone contemplating leaking any classified records. Fear is its greatest weapon of psychological destruction, with proven success at home. The outcome the state hopes for is greater self-censorship and greater self-monitoring.

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