Uncategorized

By Deanna Trejo Years of investigations by CBS2 Chicago into botched police raids, such as the ones that propelled Anjanette Young and Peter Mendez into the national spotlight and led to sweeping changes in procedures, all began with a single press release. That release was about a settlement between the […]

By Rylee Tan Knowing how to file a state FOIA is one thing but seeking public records on the federal level presents an entire new set of challenges, according to a panel at FOIAFest 2021. Speaking Saturday morning, two attorneys and an Associated Press editor walked listeners through some of […]

By Deanna Trejo Even though there is no magic formula for writing a successful FOIA request, there is an art to getting a “yes” instead of a “no.” Four news pros from the Better Government Association delivered that message and much more Friday evening during the opening session of the […]

By Deanna Trejo Imagine that you want to tell the stories of housing insecurity brought on by the COVID pandemic and you’re trying to track down sketchy landlords who don’t want to be found. Not only is there no app for that, until recently there wasn’t any hard data to […]

By Deanna Trejo Piles of papers and megabytes of data may not make for an interesting visual, but FOIAs and the information they deliver can make for valuable broadcast news. Four Chicago journalists from radio and TV answered questions Saturday afternoon during a panel discussion at FOIAFest 2021. Brandis Friedman, […]

By Lu Calzada Filing a successful FOIA request can be challenging under the best of circumstances, let alone when trying to pry information from reluctant officials in another state. The solution? Be strategic and seek out allies. That was the advice from a panel of news professionals Friday evening as […]

By Rylee Tan Because the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown much of the economic world into chaos, coverage of workers, the workplace and all aspects of labor have been thrust to the front pages.  Four panelists from the Chicago Headline Club’s FOIAFest 2021 — moderated by Chalkbeat Chicago reporter Yana Kunichoff […]

By Isaiah Colbert Databases are useful tools, but some are so flawed they should be abolished, said panelists appearing at the Chicago Headline Club’s FOIAFest 21 on Sunday. Andy Clarno, an associate professor and coordinator of the Policing in Chicago Research Group at University of Illinois at Chicago, highlighted the […]

By Dyana Daniels Journalists covering immigration hope the Biden administration will be more responsive to Freedom of Information Act requests regarding immigration than the Trump administration was. “I was really frustrated at multiple points in time, especially during the last administration, and we’ll see how things go this administration with […]

By Mari Devereaux  From never ending court dates and legal fees to stagnated stories, suing obstinate government agencies unwilling to comply with Freedom of Information Act requests can be frustrating. But freelance journalist Matt Chapman said it’s sometimes necessary to file a lawsuit to figure out what information exists and […]