Sunshine Week has began -- and a new report from the National Security Archive and the Knight Foundation has found that only half of federal agencies are taking steps to increase government transparency as directed by President Obama. The Washington Post has more on the study, which is set to be released today. The Associated Press did its own study, and found little progress was made in improving government transparency.
As the linked stories indicate, government people will tell you that they are doing a fine job in increasing government transparency. But FOIA requesters will tell you something very different -- which is reflected in the studies -- a little better isn't enough. The government is rolling out a new website today, foia.gov, which is a nice start but is not nearly enough to force agencies into adapting President Obama's FOIA policies. What the government needs is someone with the political muscle of the President in a full time FOIA job. This job would entail, among other things, reviewing what agencies are doing at both the administrative and litigation levels and making sure that agencies really follow the high standards set forth by the President.
Comments