The Chicago Headline Club board is proud to announce the launch of foiaillinois.org, a McCormick Foundation-funded initiative of the Chicago Headline Club and the Better Government Association, to provide a comprehensive resource for journalists, bloggers, community activists and others to effectively use the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.
The website features a blog that will cover FOIA-related news and prompt discussions about the best ways to use the FOIA and gain access to public information. We hope to use the blog to help build and engage a statewide community on open government. In our fight to preserve the public’s right to know, we can all use support and allies. We’d like foiaillinois.org to become a gathering place for this community.
The website will also feature a “FOIA Guide” that will, ultimately, include the names and contact information for FOIA officers at hundreds of government agencies on the state and local levels, particularly those covering the six-county Chicago region. The guide will also feature tips, links and other resources to help individuals overcome barriers to accessing public information.
We welcome your thoughts and ideas on ways this website can better serve your FOIA needs.
Follow us on twitter at @foiaillinois