Obama's sad record on open government
http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/obamas-sad-record-on-open-government-b99556647z1-321918511.html
Last week, it involved the Obama administration's sad record on transparency and open government: More than 50 media and open government groups sent a letter to the White House, calling on President Barack Obama "to stop practices in federal agencies that prevent important information from getting to the public," in the words of the Society of Professional Journalists.
"The national organizations sent a letter to Obama Monday urging changes to policies that constrict information flow to the public, including prohibiting journalists from communicating with staff without going through public information offices, requiring government PIOs to vet interview questions and monitoring interviews between journalists and sources," the SPJ report said.
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On his first day in office, Obama issued a directive to create the Open Government Initiative, aimed at "creating an unprecedented level of openness in government," in the president's words. There's even a website for the initiative, which lists policies, a national action plan, open government progress and a heading that says "We want your input on building a more open government."
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Last week's letter to the administration noted that "The public has a right to be alarmed by these constraints — essentially forms of censorship — that have surged at all levels of government in the past few decades.... Surveys of journalists and public information officers (PIOs) demonstrate that the restraints have become pervasive across the country; that some PIOs admit to blocking certain reporters when they don't like what is written; and that most Washington reporters say the public is not getting the information it needs because of constraints. An SPJ survey released in April confirmed that science writers frequently run into these barriers. This information suppression is fraught with danger."
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