Hawaii’s first FOI audit is completed
The Hawaii Chapter SPJ joined nine other community organizations to conduct the first Freedom of Information audit of Hawaii government records.
Volunteers – mostly from the League of Women Voters – went to government offices across the state in February seeking public records that should be released upon request.
They found delays and questions.
Compliance was good as 43 of 59 record requests were met. But it took persistence by the volunteers. Only 17 of the 59 record requests were fulfilled on the first visit.
The audit, released at the annual FOI Day luncheon March 14, raised two major points:
1. Private citizens should not be required to come back when they are asking for public records. There is little excuse for not releasing records on the spot.Chances are that many will not return because of time or other constraints.
2. Government agencies should stop asking why people want to see records and should refrain from requiring identification from those seeking records.
Report on Results of the
2006 Freedom of Information Compliance Audit
Since 1998, Society of Professional Journalists chapters have conducted FOI audits in more than 25 states around the country (http://foi.missouri.edu/openrecseries/). These FOI audits assess the degree to which state and local governments comply with open records laws, and help promote public awareness of freedom of information issues.
In February, the first FOI audit was conducted in Hawaii. Ten organizations sponsored the Hawaii FOI audit, including the Society of Professional Journalists–Hawaii Chapter, League of Women Voters of Hawai’i, Right to Know Committee, Honolulu Community-Media Council, Big Island Press Club, Kauaians for Open Government, Hawai’i Pro-Democracy Initiative, Citizen Voice, SPJ University of Hawai’i Chapter, and Open Government Coalition of Hawaii.
Co-chairs of the 2006 Hawai’i FOI Audit are Beverly Keever, Right to Know Committee chairwoman, and Stirling Morita, SPJ Hawai’i FOI chairman. The FOI audit was scheduled to coincide with national Sunshine Week and the Annual FOI Day Luncheon. Public awareness about the audit is also intended to build support for open government bills at the Legislature.
Instead of having journalists make FOI records requests like most mainland FOI audits, the Hawaii audit utilized citizen volunteers to avoid having agencies give journalists favorable treatment. The League of Women Voters helped recruit volunteers to submit FOI record requests. There were 33 volunteers; 14 on Oahu and 19 on the neighbor islands. FOI record requests were submitted by volunteers over 9 business days, starting on Feb. 7.
THE RESULTS
A total of 59 record requests was submitted in this audit; 43 requests were fulfilled and 16 not fulfilled. Two of those unfulfilled requests were granted viewing only, but requests to copy those same records were denied. Of 43 requests fulfilled, 17 were fulfilled on first contact with the agency, 11 on the second, and 15 on three or more contacts.
Record requests were made to 25 state agencies and 34 county agencies. County record requests included 13 on Kauai, 8 on Oahu, 5 on Maui, and 8 on Hawaii, with 6 in Hilo and 2 in Kona. The 16 unfulfilled requests included 4 at state agencies and 12 at county agencies.
The records selected for this audit were suggested by the Society of Professional Journalists–Hawai’i Chapter. The types of open government records included: travel expenses, personnel lists, non-bid contracts, consultant contracts, office space and land leases, legal settlements, legal services, criminal information, and restaurant inspection reports.
WHY DO YOU WANT TO SEE THE RECORDS?
One third of the FOI requests in the audit — 19 record requests — involved volunteers being asked why they wanted the record. When this question is posed, it could have a chilling effect on citizens making FOI requests, even if asked in friendly conversation. If an agency required the information before releasing a record, the question would be improper. Among record types, agency personnel records had the highest rate of staff asking requesters both their purpose and identity, 7 out of the 8 requests.
Providing one’s identity can often make it easier to implement a records request, as was likely in most of the 39 times agencies asked requesters in this audit. But agencies should also respect the rights of citizens who may wish to maintain anonymity in FOI requests. Exercising citizen access rights to government records should not be hindered by any requirements, implied or otherwise, not required by law.
IT TAKES PERSISTENCE
In the audit, 17 record requests were fulfilled on the first contact with the agency. However, 35 or 60 percent of all FOI requests required one or more follow-up contacts to pursue release of public documents. Among the 59 record requests attempted, there were 25 instances in which volunteers were unable to submit their request on the first contact. In 32 of the requests, front desk agency staff were not able to handle FOI requests without the assistance or approval of their supervisor.
In analyzing results of this first Hawaii FOI audit, it should be noted that audit volunteers were trained and may have been more persistent in pursuing records requests than ordinary citizens. Also, project staff provided advice and assistance to volunteers that would not normally be available to citizens. In 49 of the 59 requests for records, audit volunteers visited the government agencies in person, at least on their first contact with the agency.
Legislators fail to pass FOI legislation in 2006 session
It was not a good year for Freedom of Information legislation at the state Capitol.
But then, few years have been.
All of the measures submitted by the Office of Information Practices failed.
And only a last-minute testimony blitz by community organizations headed off a House Judiciary Committee attempt to allow government agencies to control a study of the Office of Information Practices.
The House Judiciary Committee stripped an ethics measure and slapped in language to conduct a study of OIP done principally by government agencies and led by the four county councils – two of them vocal opponents of the OIP.
The committee made the new proposal on a Friday, said it was available at the Capitol and scheduled a hearing on the following Tuesday. The problem was that no one could see the measure until Monday at the earliest – almost too late to meet the 24-hour deadline for submission of testimony. Also, many of the people who would oppose the bill wouldn’t be able to attend the hearing because the annual FOI luncheon was the same day.
The hearing was put off, and many groups, including the Hawaii Chapter SPJ, testified against the bill saying it was like putting the foxes in charge of the henhouse. The proposal was killed.
Other FOI bills killed by the Legislature would have:
May 2006
Don’t miss these events
Awards dinner will be at 3660 on the Rise
The best in Hawaii journalism will be recognized at the annual awards dinner June 10 at 3660 on the Rise, 3660 Waialae Ave.
Dinner starts at 6:30 p.m. No-host cocktails will be from 6 p.m. Cost is $38 for members and students, $42 for nonmembers. Tables of eight may be purchased for $320. Make checks payable to Hawaii Chapter SPJ. No shows will be billed.
Choice of entree with mesclun of Nalo greens, warm apple crisp with Chantilly cream, taro rolls:
— Macadamia nut breaded breast of chicken
— Pan-seared ginger scallion crusted ahi steak
— Vegetarian
RSVP by June 7, 2006. to: Bright Light Marketing Group, 1001 Bishop St., Suite 900, Honolulu, HI 96813-3429. Dymian Racoma. Phone: 275-3026; Fax: 524-8115. E-mail: dymian@brightlightmarketing.com
Validated parking is available in the Waialae Building for $1 after 5 p.m.
Reporting from the regional in Pasadena
By Dave Briscoe
Chapter Treasurer
The SPJ Region 11 Conference in Pasadena March 31-April 1 attracted mostly journalists from Northern California, but there were representatives from Arizona and Nevada and an SPJ board member from Hawaii. There were no representatives from the U.S. Pacific territories, which are also part of the region but have no organized chapter.
New chapters were announced for Southern Arizona and Orange County. Regional Director Paul McAfee announced next year's meeting in Honolulu, creating a lot of enthusiasm. Delegates were advised to plan well in advance.
Christine Tatum, national SPJ president-elect, said she plans to attend the Honolulu meeting. Christine is a business writer for the Denver Post. She outlined an ambitious program for the national, including the Aug. 24-27 national convention in Chicago, efforts to engage members in more activities supporting the profession, fund-raising, increased local chapter use of Websites, better marketing of SPJ and improvement of its internal communications. She noted that SPJ is the country's oldest and largest journalism advocacy organization with 10,000 members.
A major issue of the national is opening up the election for national SPJ leaders to the general membership. Currently, only 2 percent of members participate in the election process and they represent only 43 percent of overall membership.
The regional meeting included no individual chapter reports. The conference was built around issues driving the profession at the start of the 21st century and was generally divided into sessions for professionals and for aspiring student journalists. Sessions ranged from skills workshops to a broad discussion of new media.
Paul Davis, senior vice president of Pasadena-based FACS, a foundation that holds educational seminars for active journalists, presented a session on changes in media. Moderator James Gentry presented a look at the world where anybody can function as a journalist and newspaper stocks are down 20 percent with outsourcing of low-level journalism jobs to places like India. He said that by the end of the year, half of Reuters' staff will be working in India. The core message: old business models cannot survive. He pointed to a number of successful news operations, including newspapers that had transformed themselves to take advantage of new media which allow consumers to experience the news in a more interactive way.
Another session featured a far-reaching discussion of how to improve access to public documents and meetings, with both prize-winning journalists and representatives of public agencies and officials.
Investigative journalist Don Ray conducted a hands-on session showing how to mine public documents for relevant information. A panel of California editors discussed the melding of newspapers and the Internet and how to build reporting staffs that can achieve a full-scale integration of online and print and stay relevant to people's lives.
Sessions for student journalists included one on the future of college journalism, on how to build a career by starting at a small newspapers, how to capture that first job in journalism, and how to decide when its time to move on in the profession to a better job.
2006 Region XI Conference to be held in Honolulu
The Hawaii Chapter SPJ has started planning for next year’s regional conference in Honolulu.
The conference will be held April 13-14 at the Ala Moana Hotel.
Check our Web page for updates: www..hawaiispj.org
Gridiron to shine Oct. 20-21
It’s official: This year’s Gridiron will go on Oct. 20-21. Put it on your calendar.
The show is scheduled will be at Diamond Head Theatre, 520 Makapuu St.
The musical parady show will feature local journalists and some of your favorites in the benefit for the Hawaii Chapter’s internship program.
’Aha ‘ilono: reporter, messenger, bringer of news
’Aha ‘ilono is a newsletter of the Society of Professional Journalists, Hawaii Professional Chapter.
We wselcome news stories, commentaries, letters, tidbits and other items of interest about journalists in Hawaii.
Submit items to P.O. Box 3141, Honolulu, 96802, or call Stirling Morita at 529-4755. Or e-mail spj@flex.com
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Interns are selected to work this summereb page: www.hawaiispj.or
By Craig DeSilva
Chapter Secretary
Congratulations to the college students selected for the SPJ-Hawaii 2006 summer internship program.
About 50 Hawaii students going to colleges and universities in Hawaii and on the U.S. mainland applied for the 13 paid full-time and part-time internship positions this year in print, broadcast and public relations. The students sent in their applications earlier this year, and finalists were interviewed and given a written proficiency exam. The interns were selected in March. We would like to wish them well this summer as they gain valuable on-the-job experience of working in journalism and public relations.
A big mahalo to their sponsors. Here are the interns:
Intern candidate briefing in March
If you or a student you know is interested in applying for next year's program, visit the SPJ-Hawaii web site at www.HAWAIISPJ.org in December when an announcement along with eligibility requirements and application will be posted, or call Internship chair Craig DeSilva at (808) 282-1038.