FOIA Fest is the Chicago Headline Club’s signature event dedicated to public records reporting. This year, it’s Saturday, March 22 (you can still get tickets).
Ahead of the annual public records conference, FOIA Fest speakers shared their best tips for filing FOIA requests and other in-depth, investigative reporting.
“Make sure you do your research BEFORE you submit a request! Find record retention schedules, blank forms, anything that will help you be specific in your request. And don’t give up!“
- Adam Rhodes, Training Director, Investigative Reporters & Editors
“In a time where journalism is needed now more than ever, and the need for public records is crucial, we must support each other, whether within our newsrooms or within the industry. I would encourage journalists to network with each other, or if they are hesitant or have a half baked FOIA idea, to talk it over with someone in their newsroom or outside of their newsroom. Ultimately, we are all working for the benefit of the public, and when we are at our best, so can the people who matter most — the audience — be at theirs.”
- Alex Veeneman, Freelance Reporter
“Make sources before FOIA-ing something difficult.”
- Alice Yin, Political Reporter, Chicago Tribune
“Even before you start filing FOIA requests, get to know the data available on your beat. What is publicly available, and how often is it updated? Which data sources could be subject to a FOIA request? What data is kept, and how is it organized? Who knows the data well and might be willing to answer questions about it? Understanding the shape of the data will help you make targeted requests.”
- Amy Merrick, Senior Professional Lecturer, DePaul University
“Try to retain the Topic FOIA Team at Loevy & Loevy if you believe you have been stonewalled illegally. When they believe they can win, they sue. And when they win — which they usually do — they will be paid by the public body that broke the law in denying you. You can’t beat that deal.”
- Dan Mihalopoulos, Investigative Reporter, WBEZ Government & Politics Team
“File requests regularly. You can’t build the muscles without working them out often. It’s okay to fish and review broad categories of records — travel, expenses, emails — for nuggets.”
- Gregory Royal Pratt,Investigative reporter, Chicago Tribune
“Use online FOIA libraries, public portals and Muck Rack to search for FOIA language that has been successful previously — you can learn from it and recreate successful FOIAs.”
- Jennifer Smith Richards, Reporter, ProPublica
“Use calendars, organizational charts and retention schedules to figure out how to target your FOIAs. And always appeal.”
- Jimmy Tobias, Investigative Reporter, The Nation and The Guardian
“Pick up the phone. Then, get your FOIA officer to pick up the phone.”
- Josh McGee, Chicago Bureau Chief, Mindsite News
“I use FOIA for mostly day-to-day crime and courts stories. My best piece of advice is to be as precise as possible when requesting documents – have case numbers, names, dates and exact names of documents filed if you can. It’s also helpful to find the FOIA officer and kindly let them know that you’re sent in a request. If you tell them your deadline for a same-day story, you might get lucky and get that request within the hour.”
- Kate Linderman, National Real-Time Reporter, McClatchy Newspapers
“Get into the habit of filing a FOIA every week — it’ll challenge you to think about new story ideas while also practicing filing FOIAs!”
- Katrina Pham, Audience Engagement Reporter, Borderless Magazine
“Building trust with sources is one of the best ways to get tips that lead to great FOIAs, and help in knowing what to file for. So get going on those walking coffees! Or however you like to connect with people.”
- Kristen Schorsch, Reporter, WBEZ Chicago
“The best FOIAs are informed by talking to sources.”
- Mack Liederman, Reporter, Block Club Chicago
“PERSISTENCE – Be diligent in tracking which requests were sent where and stay on top of deadlines.”
- Megan Crepeau, Chicago Correspondent, Bloomberg Law
“I would suggest tracking all FOIAs that you’ve submitted on an excel sheet! And reading other peoples’ FOIAs to help learn the language.”
- Nell Salzman, Immigration Reporter, Chicago Tribune
“Never give up. Keep hounding people/organizations. Sometimes people in other departments will help you.”
- Regina Waldroup, Reporter, NBC Chicago
“Be curious and confident in using FOIA requests as part of your daily journalism practice. It’s really about giving yourself the approval you need to do that, and of course, making the time to do so. A big part of that jump is being okay with failing. You’ll ask for a record but get denied, or it will come in a PDF, or simply the data you want may not actually exist in an organized way. That’s okay. The fumbles are a part of the process of getting stronger and more knowledgable. I think journalism is an endless quest of leveling up and you are really at the wheel of doing that.
Look for online trainings to gain more skills on records requests. Everything I know about investigative reporting was gleaned from conferences like IRE and FOIA Fest, studying FOIA logs, and curiosity.
Don’t be afraid to reach out to FOIA officers. Overtime, they usually come around and can be a great resource in understanding how the data is kept.
Lastly, records can say so much but learn to interpret them for what they hold, and don’t. Seek out mentors and peers who genuinely want to see you succeed. These are your people and you’ll feel it. I want to see you win, and I know all the weird journalists in Chicago do, too.”
- Sarah Conway, Senior Reporter & Special Projects Manager, City Bureau
“You lose 100% of the FOIAs you don’t file.”
- Matt Kiefer, Assistant Professor, Medill School, Northwestern University
“Make sure to keep an eye on your state and local laws. A lot of stories can be found in the laws state legislators pass. You would be surprised on how few follow-up stories there are to hold state departments accountable for the new programs and initiatives they are in charge of when bills are signed into law.”
- Rita Oceguera, Reporter, The Trace Chicago
“The Chicago Headline Club’s Ethics Advice Line for Journalists.”
- Joe Mathewson, Professor, Northwestern
“1) Just as you would with any source, develop relationships with FOIA officers and learn about how they operate, the challenges they face in their work, etc. They’re people and the more you understand about them and their work, the more helpful they can be to you.
2) Be a FOIA nerd. Read PAC decisions, follow FOIA Reddits, go to FOIA Fest and conferences and host FOIA parties to share FOIA strategies in your newsroom. The more background you have, the better FOIA strategies you can execute.”
- Crystal Paul, State Investigations Editor at the Illinois Answers Project
“File FOIAs for everything and when the materials come back, read every page.“
- Casey Toner, Investigative Reporter, Illinois Answers Project
“Ask friendly competition for advice – we only benefit from a stronger press core. We are here to support one another.”
- Melody Mercado, Reporter, Block Club Chicago
“Incorporate FOIA time in your weekly schedule. Treat FOIAs like stories. Ask for help.”
- María Inés Zamudio, Investigative Journalist, Invisible Institute/ProPublica
“Build off the work of others, whether it’s using a tool like FOIA Machine to reduce your administrative work or cribbing approaches from FOIAs fulfilled in the past.“
- Hannah Cushman Garland, Partner, DataMade