Daily Archives: August 7, 2012

A critical time for freedom

A Freedom of Information Act is pending in Parliament, and this week may be a critical time for it. Some voices in the government oppose the bill, which is no surprise. Governments everywhere love secrecy. Too often, public officials regard their offices as private possessions and forget they merely hold those offices in trust for the public.The same is true of government information. Some officials treat it as personal information, but it should be available to the public, with few exceptions. The exceptions in freedom-of-information laws are critical to their passage, enforcement and effectiveness. Some critics of Botswana's proposed law want absolute exceptions, to prohibit any release of certain categories of information, or to exempt entire parts of the government from the law. This would be unwise, in my view. The best freedom-of-information laws have strong, clear principles but enough flexibility to allow release of information that is in the public interest.

The term "public interest" has also drawn complaints that it is not defined in the bill, and thus would generate litigation. These critics do not appear to understand how good freedom-of-information laws work. They almost always involve a balancing of interests: citizens' right to know how government is working (or not working) on their behalf; the personal privacy interests of individuals; and the government's need for secrecy in a few, limited areas such as national security. There is public interest in all of these, and trying to define it in a statute would be problematic, like saying how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

The courts, and administrative offices that hear appeals short of court action, generally do a good job of sorting out and balancing these interests, and defining the public interest case by case. No law can be completely definitive, and one that revolves around definitions of the public interest needs an independent adjudicator who can rule quickly with little expense to the litigants. That appears to be the case in Botswana with the independent Information Commission that the Freedom of Information Act would create.

Some say Botswana needs a data-protection act before a Freedom of Information Act, but that would put the cart before the horse. The law of privacy, which is primarily a personal interest, should be subsidiary to information law, which is primarily a public interest - making government effective and responsive to the citizens. The Freedom of Information Act would protect privacy with an exemption for "unreasonable disclosure of personal information of any individual."

The Information Commission and the High Court would ultimately have to define "unreasonable," and Parliament would be free to further define it. That's the way such laws work in the state and federal governments of the US In my home state of Kentucky, the exemption is somewhat narrower, for "a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy." Our law also clearly states its basic policy: "Free and open examination of public records is in the public interest, and the exceptions ... shall be strictly construed, even though such examination may cause inconvenience or embarrassment to public officials or others." Parliament may wish to consider such language, to help guide the Commission and the High Court. Finally, some critics of the law say it is poorly drafted and not up to "international best practices," but the examples they cite are weak and flimsy, and as far as I know there are no generally accepted international standards for such laws. One reason: They are always evolving, as individual cases define their reach and application. It is impossible to define every exemption in "precise and unequivocal terms," as one critic inside the government wrote last year.

Laws are not written in stone. They can be amended, and they are interpreted by case law. No law can be perfectly drafted, and parliaments should not make the perfect the enemy of the good. Georges Clemenceau, the French journalist and prime minister, once said "War is too serious a matter to entrust to military men." Government information is too important to entrust to the government. And that is especially true in a country where government controls 80 percent of the economy. No government in the world is immune to corruption, and with this government so intertwined with the economy, Botswana seems to have more than the usual need for a Freedom of Information Act. The act would give citizens and journalists the tools to do the job they are supposed to do: cast informed votes; hold officials, ministries and institutions accountable for their performance; and keep the people informed so they are prepared to make the choices they are called upon to make in a democratic republic. Other countries have recognised this, many for a long time. One of the more recent laws was passed in the United Kingdom, and it helped lead to the recent change in government. Using the law, a reporter researched the spending by the offices of members of Parliament and found that much taxpayer money was going to PMs' private benefit. That led to the resignation of the speaker of the House of Commons and helped defeat his Labour Party in the last election.

As a long-time political reporter in the US, I enjoyed meeting with party and government officials on my visits to Botswana and Zambia. I believe the fundamentals of government and politics are pretty much the same in most democracies. Public officials and politicians want to do the right things to help the citizens, but their own political agendas can get in the way, and citizens need the tools to hold them accountable. That's why democracies need strong freedom-of-information laws that are easy for citizens to use, and to help them speak truth to power.

* Al Cross is director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based at the University of Kentucky, and an associate professor in the university's School of Journalism and Telecommunications. He was president of the Society of Professional Journalists in 2001-02, is chair of its Government Relations Committee, and is a former member of its Ethics and International committees.

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A critical time for freedom

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Los Angeles Unified School District has been hit hard by a shrinking budget. That's especially true for many summer school, where a lot of classes have been cut. However, there is an alternative.

Class is out for the summer for L.A. County public schools. The fields are empty, but the learning continues at Foshay Learning Center. You can hear it; you can even feel it.

Welcome to Freedom School, a fun-filled energy-packed summer reading enrichment program that teaches elementary, middle and high school students a love for reading.

"When you come here it gives you a chance to let your energy out and gain energy," said student Mackenzie Burch.

Every day starts with empowering sing-a-longs to build the children's self-esteem. That's followed by a reading by a guest speaker, and then classes.

This year at least 95 percent of LAUSD summer schools were slashed because of budget woes. To help fill that void Community Coalition is operating eight of what they call "Freedom Schools" locally. It's organized by the national Children's Defense Fund program, which benefits primarily underprivileged Latino and African-American students.

Jessie Fernandez is proof the program works. Years back he was one of the children. Now he's a student leader who's also working on his bachelor's degree.

"It's doubly fulfilling and meaningful for me to be able to come back and provide an alternative positive model of education," said Fernandez.

Mackenzie Burch invites all to join her.

"They could learn and they probably wouldn't know that they were learning," she said. "They would probably just be having fun."

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Freedom School offers alternative to budget-slashed LAUSD summer school

Public release date: 6-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Nathan Hurst hurstn@missouri.edu 573-882-6217 University of Missouri-Columbia

COLUMBIA, Mo. Freedom of the press is viewed by many as a cornerstone of democracy. But can it actually help improve people's lives and make them happy? Researchers at the University of Missouri have found that citizens of countries with press freedom tend to be much happier than citizens of countries without free presses. Edson Tandoc, Jr., a doctoral student in the MU School of Journalism, says that press freedom directly predicts life satisfaction across the world.

"We already know that having reliable, objective news sources can benefit democracy, but in this study, we found that press freedom also benefits communities by helping improve the overall quality of life of citizens and, in the process, by also making them happier," Tandoc said. "People enjoy having an element of choice about where they get their news. Citizens of countries without a free press are forced to rely on the government for information, when what people really want is diversity in content where they are free to get the information they want from the source of their choosing."

Tandoc and his co-author, Bruno Takahashi from Michigan State University, analyzed data from 161 countries using a 2010 Gallup Poll evaluating happiness levels around the world. Tandoc and Takahashi compared those happiness levels with Freedom House's press freedom index which rates the level of each country's press freedom. They also examined human development statistics gathered by the United Nations as well as the Environmental Performance Index created by researchers at Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy. Tandoc found that the more press freedom a country enjoyed, the higher the levels of life satisfaction, or happiness, of its citizens tended to be.

"The road to happiness isn't direct; it is a complex path or web that includes many different influences and interrelationships," Tandoc said. "Things like improving the economy alone are insufficient for increasing happiness. Protecting press freedom is also an important component of the happiness web."

Tandoc also found that countries with higher levels of press freedom enjoyed better environmental quality and higher levels of human development, both of which also contribute to life satisfaction. He credits this to the watchdog function of the press, which helps expose corruption of all levels in a community.

"A country with a free press is expected to be more open about what is wrong in their societies and with their environments," Tandoc said. "A free press is likely to report about poor human conditions and environmental degradation, bringing problems to the attention of decision-makers. It should not come as a surprise, therefore, that press freedom is positively related to both environmental quality and human development."

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This study was published in the Social Indicators Research journal and presented at the International Communication Association 2012 conference in Phoenix.

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Press freedom leads to happiness, environmental quality, MU study finds

August 6, 2012 - Frontier League (FL) Florence Freedom Florence, KY - The The Florence Freedom(40-32)swept a doubleheader from the Road Warriors Monday night with 6-1 and 5-2 wins to complete a three game sweep. The Freedom gained a whole game in the wild card race as they now trail Windy City by 1.5 games for the final playoff spot.

The Freedom got excellent starting pitching in both games as Andres Caceres threw a complete game in game one. It was the first complete game turned in by Caceres who pitched 7 innings allowing 6 hits, while striking out 4. Caceres earned his 7th win of the season which now leads the Freedom pitching staff in wins.

In the 3rd inning the Freedom broke up a scoreless game as Junior Arrojo stole home to give Florence a 1-0 lead. Later in the inning Jim Jacquot hit a two run homer to expand the lead to 3-0. It was Jacquot's 8th of the season and his second in as many games. The Freedom took advantage of some sloppy defense by the Road Warriors in the 4th. With Victor Gomez at second base, Pierre LePage layed down a sacrifice bunt which was thrown away by pitcher Greg Hendrix(0-2) allowing Gomez to score. The Freedom also got contributions from David Harris who doubled in LePage in the same inning. Arrojo capped off the scoring with his RBI single in the 5th.

Game two followed after a thirty minute break as it saw more outstanding starting pitching by the Freedom. Ian "Bull" Durham made his first professional start and he didn't disappoint. He threw five scoreless innings, allowing 5 hits while striking out a season high five to earn his first victory of the season. It also marked his first professional victory as a starter.

The Freedom got on the scoreboard in the 4th, thanks to the help of a few fielding errors by the Road Warriors. Stephen Cardullo opened up the inning with a single. John Malloy then executed a sac bunt. Shawn Marquardt(0-2) fielded the bunt and was charged with a throwing error on a poor throw to first base. The Freedom capitalized on another error as the next batter Gomez reached on a fielding miscue by shortstop Aaron Glaum. On the error, Cardullo scored to give Florence a 1-0 lead. LePage then followed with a SAC fly to put the Freedom ahead 2-0. The Freedom went back to playing longball as Jacquot hit his second homerun of the doubleheader. It was a two run shot for Jacquot, his 9th of the year to give the Freedom a 4-0 lead. Jacquot has now homered in three straight games. The Freedom got another homerun in the 6th. Harris went deep for the third time on the homestand and his 8th of the season to make it 5-0.

The Road Warriors plated two runs in the 7th against Freedom reliever Brennan Flick. A bases loaded walk to Tanner Leighton forced home Wesley Jones to make it 5-1. Matt Kline was then brought in out of the bullpen. He got David Roney to groundout to second which scored Ryan Kaup. Kline then got Glaum to fly out on a line drive to left field to end the ballgame.

The Freedom will continue their season long twelve game homestand Tuesday night as they welcome the Windy City Thunderbolts to Florence. Windy City will feature RHP Tyson Corley(2-6, 3.65) as the Freedom will give the ball to RHP Alec Lewis(4-6, 4.36). The game can be heard starting at 6:50 with Steve Jarnicki on Real Talk 1160 AM and realtalk1160.com.

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Freedom Sweep Doubleheader from Road Warriors