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Schenectady, NY Daily Gazette Reporters, Editors Get Freedom Of Information Law Lesson

The reporting and editing staff of The Daily Gazette got a lesson in open government earlier this week from the state's top official on New York's Open Meetings Law and Freedom of Information Law (FOIL).
Robert Freeman, executive director of the state Committee on Open Government, spent more than 90 minutes speaking to Gazette reporters and editors about the intricacies of the laws, the resources available to them, the challenges they face, and their role in ensuring that government remains open to the public.
Among the issues Freeman discussed were how to address a government body when it attempts to go into a closed-door executive session that might violate the law, the availability of records under FOIL, accessibility of electronic records such as emails and text messages, meeting notices and agendas, and how to successfully obtain records without resorting to FOIL.
He also provided them with some of the resources available to reporters and the general public when they have questions about specific topics related to open government.
Particularly, he directed them to the Committee on Open Government's website, www.dos.ny.gov/coog/, which can be accessed quickly by anyone by simply googling "Committee on Open Government."
The website contains the text of both the Open Meetings and FOIL laws, as well as thousands of advisory opinions on hundreds of issues categorized alphabetically by topic. Each reporter and editor was also given a copy of the committee's publication "Your Right to Know," a handy quick reference guide on the laws. The guide can be downloaded from the committee's website.
Freeman regularly speaks to journalists, civic groups, government bodies and the general public about open government. In January, The Gazette held a forum with Freeman at Schenectady County Community College that was attended by about 75 citizens. We hope to do it again in the future.
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