Obama’s FOIA grasp

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The government under President Barack Obama, when in doubt, is supposed to now operate with a presumption of openness when administering a Freedom of Information Act request. In a memo to all agency and department heads, the new administration wrote, “The Freedom of Information Act should be administered with a clear presumption: In the face of doubt, openness prevails. The Government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears.”


It went further; saying the government “should take affirmative steps to make information public. They should not wait for specific requests from the public. All agencies should use modern technology to inform citizens about what is known and done by their Government. Disclosure should be timely.”

RBR/TVBR observation: The Obama administration mentions the public, but this item should have the press licking its chops. Journalists are the ones that will be first in line to get info to then pass along to the public. But it’s one thing to say things like this; it’s another to follow through. Stay tuned.