‘The Art of Access is a must-have book for any journalism student or professional reporter. It will ensure that a journalist understands the importance of authentic documents to establish the credibility of news stories and how crucial it is to obtain those documents no matter the obstacles public officials may create to prevent access.’
—Brant Houston, University Of Illinois
Whatever you’re trying to learn about the world—as a journalist or as an informed citizen— public records often hold the key. But what records, where? And how to get them? Gaining access to records is an art, one that requires an organized approach and a good understanding of human behavior. The Art of Access: Strategies for Acquiring Public Records, Second Edition is a how-to guide for putting the law into action and using ingenuity to pry records loose. FOI experts and longtime journalists David Cuillier and Charles N. Davis present strategies for dealing with the officials who stand between you and the information you seek. They explore new developments in technology and research and the latest online innovations and tools to help you rethink the information-gathering process and develop a document state of mind.
Зміст
A Humble Foreword by Tom Blanton
Preface
About the Authors
CHAPTER 1 Records That Matter: Improve Your Community, Career and Life
Make the world better
Advance your career
Improve your personal life
Develop a new way of thinking
Try it!
Suggested links
CHAPTER 2 Develop a Document State of Mind
Take charge
Exercise your document muscles
Find inspiration and support
Try it!
Suggested links
CHAPTER 3 Become an Access Law Expert
Master the law in five steps
Dip into alphabet laws
Access to public meetings
Tap into legal resources
Try it!
Suggested links
CHAPTER 4 The Hunt: Find Records in the Dark
Explore document habitats
Find records in records
Build on others’ successes
Try it!
Suggested links
CHAPTER 5 Strategies for Effective Requests
Get in the zone
Get personal
Write effective letters
Cut denials off at the pass
Apply hard tactics if necessary
Try it!
Suggested links
CHAPTER 6 How to Overcome Denials
Understand the nature of ‘no’
Respond to common denials
If the agency says . . .
Play hardball
Take them to court
Try it!
Suggested links
CHAPTER 7 Going Digital: Strategies for Getting Data
Become familiar with data
Get the database
Counter cyber-denials
Teach yourself database journalism
Try it!
Suggested links
CHAPTER 8 Understand How Public Officials Think
Comprehend bureaucratic culture
Identify agency constraints
Help them help you
Try it!
Suggested links
CHAPTER 9 Putting it Together: Writing, Ethics and Paying it Forward
Create great record-based stories
Do the right thing: FOI ethics
Anticipate public reaction
Publicize FOI
Become an FOI warrior
Try it!
Suggested links
APPENDIX A The Record Album
APPENDIX B FOI Resources
Notes
Index
Про автора
Charles N. Davis, Ph.D., is the Dean of the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. He was appointed in 2013, after a long career in journalism. Davis worked for ten years as a journalist after his graduation from North Georgia College, working for newspapers, magazines and a news service in Georgia and Florida before leaving full-time journalism to complete a masters degree from the University of Georgia′s Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and to earn a doctorate in mass communication from the University of Florida. He spent 14 years as a faculty member, including four as department chair at the Missouri School of Journalism. Davis also spent five years at Mizzou as Executive Director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition. His teaching awards include the Scripps Howard Foundation National Journalism Teacher of the Year Award in 2008, the Provost’s Award for Junior Faculty Teaching in 2001, and the University of Missouri Alumni Association’s Faculty/Alumni Award in 2008. In 2016 he was awarded the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communication Alumni of Distinction Award.
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