Ginger McCall, a DCOGC board member, will lead a wide-ranging discussion with the new City Council members: Christina Henderson (at-large) and Brooke Pinto (Ward 2). The session will explore their views on transparency laws that foster greater public knowledge of and participation in government decision-making, as well as enhanced accountability of agencies and officials.

Empower Ed’s Scott Goldstein and D.C. Auditor Kathy Patterson will join Sandra Moscoso, another DCOGC board member, to explore continuing efforts to improve public access to records of D.C. public and charter schools, and meetings of charter school boards. They will discuss how greater access can empower parents and teachers to play a more effective role in shaping the District’s school systems.

Nate Jones, a Washington Post FOI expert, Niquelle Allen, D.C. Office of Open Government director, and Fritz Mulhauser, DCOGC blogger-in-chief, will assess the state of D.C.’s Freedom of Information Act today. They will address the novel coronavirus pandemic’s impact on FOIA compliance generally, the Metropolitan Police Department’s long-standing resistance against transparency, and the governmentwide failure to implement proactive disclosure requirements.

Tom Susman, DCOGC president, will conclude the Summit with a community call to action, outlining how individuals and organizations can use transparency tools to make local government more efficient and accountable.

Register HERE

The panel will discuss the growing issue of government use of algorithms to make major decisions, such as determining education funding, who gets a COVID-19 vaccine first, and even predicting risk of reoffending for people with criminal records. These algorithms are often biased, far from transparent and created by private contractors that refuse to disclose their origins, citing trade secrets.

Panel of journalists and subject matter experts will discuss the intricacies of the issue and its growing importance in American society.

Specific topics will include:
— How algorithms are constructed, and the big decisions that are now being left to them.
— The best ways for reporters to learn about and inform the public of the issue.
— How bias is baked into algorithms, and why it’s so important that their use becomes more transparent.
— How journalists and journalism advocacy organizations can push for transparency in algorithms, and how some already are.
— How to make artificial intelligence less biased.

Panelists include: Khari Johnson, AI reporter for Venture Beat; Michele Gilman, University of Baltimore professor and faculty fellow at the Data and Society Research Institute; Israel Balderas, assistant professor of convergence journalism at Palm Beach Atlantic University; and moderator Michael Savino, reporter at WFSB-TV in Hartford, Connecticut.

To participate, register by following this link.

SPJ/LA to explore the give-and-take between journalists and PIOs

Government agencies bring on public information officers to make sure critical information reaches the public. But for those PIOs, can the obligation to serve their agency run counter to their responsibility to the public?

SPJ/LA will explore those and other issues on Thursday during the virtual panel “Just Doing My Job: Protecting the Agency vs. Serving the Public.”

The panel, which begins at 7 p.m.(PT), will feature journalists and public affairs experts from across the region.

The event will be moderated by Ben Davis, journalism professor at Cal State, Northridge. Appearing with him are:

• Lisa Derderian, Public Information Officer, City of Pasadena
• Susan Hirasuna, Anchor/Reporter, FOX 11
• Claudia Peschiutta, Daily News Editor, KPCC-FM
• Kerri Webb, Director of Public Information and Government Relations, El Camino College

For more information, contact Nathan Solis at njsolis@gmail.com.

To RSVP for the event, please click here by 4:00pm (PT) on Thursday, March 3.

Register HERE for this online session.

America’s public schools are coming under unusually strong attention from the general public — scrutiny communities typically rely on journalists to provide.

The issues are as disparate as masking mandates and COVID-19 testing; decisions around the spending of federal pandemic relief funds; the pros and cons of virtual vs. in-person learning; gun threats; and a rising trend of lawmakers and parents’ demanding that schoolchildren not be taught certain subjects such as human sexuality and the history of racism.

Journalists face multiple barriers, many government- or district-imposed, to covering these complex topics. Practices like filtering all interviews through public information officers seriously impairs journalists’ ability to cover these weighty subjects, while prohibiting teachers, school staff and other key education officials from sharing their stories. Add in policies that limit access to key education-related data-sets, and answering the public’s questions in a timely, thoughtful, and detailed manner becomes exceedingly difficult.

In honor of Sunshine Week, expert panelists will explore the impact of these government restrictions on press coverage of public schools and how to work around them. Produced by the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Press Club Journalism Institute, the discussion will offer strategies and tools to overcome these barriers.

Panelists include:
– Eva-Marie Ayala, Education Lab editor for The Dallas Morning News
– Frank LoMonte, professor at the University of Florida and counsel at CNN
– Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO
– Moderator: Delece Smith-Barrow, education editor at POLITICO

Register HERE for this National Press Club Journalism Institute webinar.

Description

Public records belong to the public. So where do we get started tracking them down?

Join the National Press Club Journalism Institute to learn what government records you have a right to and how to request them. Whether you’re a journalist, student, parent, community activist, teacher, business owner, or taxpayer, you will learn how to request public records that can help you in your personal and professional lives.

This virtual webinar is designed to help individuals file their first open records request with a local, state, or federal government agency. The Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, provides the public the right to request access to records from any federal agency. Federal agencies are required to disclose any information requested unless it falls under one of nine exemptions. State and local agencies also have open record laws governing documents produced by government agencies including lawmakers, law enforcement agencies, courts, and school districts, among others. These laws help keep citizens in the know about their government.

During this program, participants will learn:

– Why an individual might file a FOIA or open records request
– The types of public records that exist
– When you should rely on a FOIA or open records request, and other ways to find information
– How to file an open records request
– How to interpret the information you receive

Participants will hear from:

• Kirsten Mitchell is the compliance team lead for the U.S. Office of Government Information Services, which is the federal FOIA ombudsman, and designated federal officer for the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration’s FOIA Advisory Committee
• Lulu Ramadan, an investigative reporter at The Seattle Times and a distinguished fellow with ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network
• Mark Walker, an investigative reporter for The New York Times, where he previously was its FOIA coordinator, and the president of Investigative Reporters & Editors

The D.C. Open Government Coalition, the Society of Professional Journalists-D.C. Professional Chapter, and the D.C. Office of Open Government, invite you to

OPEN GOVERNMENT 2024 SUMMIT

WHEN: 5:30 – 8:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 13, 2024 American Bar Association Conference Center

WHERE: 1050 Connecticut Ave. NW, 10^th Floor, Washington, DC (Metrorail: Farragut North Station)

This year’s event focuses on the intersection of public safety and transparency, accountability, and trust. Speakers include:

• Niquelle Allen, , Director of the D.C. Office of Open Government
• Marcus Ellis, Executive Director, Peace For C.
• Chris Magnus, Deputy Auditor for Public Safety
• Alex Koma, Washington City Paper

Join us for light fare beginning at 5:30 p.m.

This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required at this link: https://dcopengovsummit24.eventbrite.com.

Deadline for registering is 11:59 p.m. Monday March 11.

To learn more, email info@dcogc.org, or visit www.dcogc.org.

The annual Summit takes place during national Sunshine Week—March 10-16, which celebrates the birthday of James Madison, considered the founding father of government transparency and an architect of the U.S. Constitution.

Applications and all accompanying documents must be filed by midnight.

Pertinent info on scholarships can be found HERE.

Join the SPJ D.C. Pro Chapter on Monday, May 19 at 6 p.m. ET for a discussion on AI and FOIA. Alex Ebermann, President, New York Coalition for Open Government, and Irwin McCullough, Co-Founder, FOIA Friend, will discuss the pros and cons of integrating AI in the records requesting process and how journalists can use AI as a tool.

The session will be moderated by freelance journalist James Mae.

Register HERE.