New England First Amendment Coalition

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April 2024

FOI, Citizenship Award Nominations Due May 15

Michael Donoghue FOI Award

The Freedom of Information Award is given each year to a New England journalist or team of journalists for a body of work from the previous calendar year that protects or advances the public’s right to know under federal or state law. Preference is given to those who overcome significant official resistance. [...]

Antonia Orfield Citizenship Award

The Citizenship Award is given to an individual from one of the six New England states who has fought for information crucial to the public’s understanding of its community or what its government is doing — or not doing — on its behalf. The candidate should have shown tenacity or bravery in the face of difficulty while obtaining information that the public has a right to know. [...]

MASSACHUSETTS

NEFAC, Open Government Advocates Call for Permanent Reform with Virtual Access to Public Meetings Set to Expire in One Year

With virtual access to public meetings set to end in a year, the New England First Amendment Coalition and a group of Massachusetts disability rights, free press, open government, and other advocates renewed their call for permanent reforms to guarantee hybrid access to open meetings.

"For four years, people in Massachusetts have been able to participate in state and local democracy in unprecedented ways; now, it’s time to strengthen the infrastructure of our 21st-century democracy — not retreat from progress," the groups said in a recent statement. [...]

Additional Coverage

NEW HAMPSHIRE

NEFAC, Transparency Groups Support Recent Public Records Proposal

The New England First Amendment Coalition joined a group of New Hampshire open government advocates to support the most recent proposal to change the state’s public records fee structure.

HB 1002 originally allowed agencies to charge record requesters up to $25 an hour for any time searching, retrieving, duplicating, redacting or otherwise making records available beyond 10 hours.

The most recent proposal, however, would limit the bill’s impact to “electronic communications in excess of 250 communications," create an indigency exemption and include a public interest exemption like the federal FOIA that explicitly includes media requesters. [...]

30 MINUTE SKILLS

Climate Reporting

According to a recent article in Nieman Reports, “everyone is a climate reporter now.” As extreme weather becomes more common, climate-related issues are an increasingly important part of all news coverage.

By viewing this lesson, you’ll learn (1) how to report climate change tie-ins across all beats (2) how to best communicate dry energy stories and (3) how to make climate connections clear in everyday weather stories.

May 17 | How to Develop a Beat

June 11 | Protect Yourself Online

Sept. 10 | Audio Reporting

FIRST AMENDMENT AND FREE PRESS

NEFAC Leads Presentations for New England Campuses, Journalism Conferences

NEFAC's “First Amendment and the Free Press” program brings reporters, academics and legal scholars onto campuses and into the region’s classrooms and community centers to pull back the newsroom curtain and explain how journalism works — and how it could be improved.

The coalition led discussions this month at the University of Massachusetts, Keene State College, the University of Rhode Island, Emerson College and for a group of exiled Russian journalists visiting Boston. [...]

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

Accessing Police Misconduct Records

All FOI Lessons Now Available to View

The lessons build on NEFAC’s growing library of public records classes. They are taught by local journalists and attorneys who provide an overview of their respective state’s law and explain how misconduct records can be accessed.

MORE NEFAC COMMENTARY AND COVERAGE

Audit Finds Lack of Transparency in New Bedford Court Records

The lack of transparency is not unique to records in the New Bedford District Court, said Justin Silverman, executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, which promotes public access to government.

He described it as a quiet but sweeping issue within the state’s court system, in which records from many district courts are not made public. The organization recently published a letter of concern, calling for the state trial court to follow its own rules of public access.

“They aren’t following their own rules. That’s a problem,” Silverman said, in a recent interview. “It’s an issue that’s prevalent in many, if not all courts in Massachusetts.”

“It’s important to look at all corners of government to make sure the rules are being followed,” Silverman said. “To have that information online makes it very easy for the public to monitor cases and get a better understanding of what’s happening within the court systems.” [...]

Piece of the Karen Read Case Remains a Mystery Due to Mass. Law: Autopsy Report

Justin Silverman, executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, noted the “high public interest” in this case amid the allegations of police wrongdoing. If there is merit to such claims, it is important for the public to find out — and it is just as important if nothing went wrong, he said, that trust is restored.

“Any time you have questions about how those in government are acting and whether they might be involved in an individual’s death, the public interest in getting more information about their death increases significantly,” Silverman said. “These autopsy reports might provide answers to these types of questions.” [...]

Ethics Panel: No Violation Against Hinsdale

That the existence of ethics complaints themselves are not made publicly available is of concern, Justin Silverman, executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, said.

“A more reasonable way forward would be for the commission to make public the existence of the complaint so, at the very least, we all know that a complaint has been filed against a particular legislator,” he said.

But, he noted, that keeping details of a complaint hidden until an investigation is determined necessary might be warranted “in that you don’t want members of the public to be filing meritless complaints against their legislators and abusing the process, which would certainly occur if all the details were revealed.” [...]

MORE FOI & FIRST AMENDMENT NEWS

National / Regional

TikTok Ban

Student Protests

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Connecticut

Maine

Massachusetts

Police Transparency

State Legislature

Karen Read Protests

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New Hampshire

Public Art

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Rhode Island

Public Records Reform

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Vermont

Thank You to Our Supporters

NEFAC appreciates the support of all its donors and contributors. In particular, we would like to recognize the Estate of Gloria Negri and the following Leadership Circle donors ($10,000+) and Major Supporters ($2,500-$9,999):

LEADERSHIP CIRCLE

Rhode Island Foundation

The Boston Globe

Paul and Ann Sagan

The Robertson Foundation

MAJOR SUPPORTERS

Boston University

Hearst Conn. Media Group

Academy of New England Journalists

Connecticut Public

WBUR-Boston

WCVB-Boston