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Press Releases

Third Annual National Event Will Explore Executive Branch Secrecy and Tools for Openness (03/03/2008)

Contact: Chris Green or Patrice McDermott, (202) 332-6736
info at openthegovernment.org

Media Advisory

Join Patrice McDermott, Director of OpenTheGovernment.org and two panels of experts in a national dialogue addressing issues of access to government information, including executive branch power and secrecy, congressional rights and responsibilities, and the role of the public and non-profit sector. The event will begin with a lively discussion of the issues and end with ideas for action and new and exciting ways to find and use government information. Two opportunities for questions and answers will be provided.

Secrecy Report Card 2007: Report Finds Expanded Federal Government Secrecy in 2006 (08/31/2007)

Contact: Emily Feldman or Patrice McDermott, 202-332-6736
info@openthegovernment.org
View the Secrecy Report Card 2007

WASHINGTON, Sep. 1 -- Government secrecy saw further expansion last year despite growing public concern, according to a report released today by a coalition of open government advocates. The Secrecy Report Card, produced annually by OpenTheGovernment.org in order to identify trends in public access to information, found a troubling lack of transparency in military procurement, assertions of executive privilege, and expansion of "sensitive" categories of information, among other areas.

Open Government Advocates Overcome "Gonzales Hold" on FOIA Bill; OPEN Government Act Passes Senate (08/06/2007)

Contact: Patrice McDermott or Emily Feldman
Organization: OpenTheGovernment.org
Phone Number: (202) 332-6736
Email: info@openthegovernment.org

For Immediate Release

WASHINGTON, August 3, 2007 -- The United States Senate today joined the House in passing bipartisan legislation to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act and address some of the common problems the public encounters when trying to hold the government accountable. The bill passed the Senate unanimously just before the August congressional recess.

Government Secrecy on the Rise: New Book Updates 1987 Report on Government Secrecy (07/12/2007)

Contact: Drew Courtney (PFAW Foundation) (202) 467-4999 media@pfaw.org
Patrice McDermott (OpenTheGovernment.org) (202) 332-6736 info@openthegovernment.org
View the report

For Immediate Release

WASHINGTON, July 12, 2007 -- The United States has faced an unprecedented rise in government secrecy over the last six years, according to a report released today by OpenTheGovernment.org and People For the American Way Foundation. Government Secrecy: Decisions Without Democracy 2007 documents how executive power has dramatically expanded while executive accountability has diminished.

Groups Urge Senate to Enact FOIA Reform on the Law's 41st Birthday (07/03/2007)

Contact: Patrice McDermott, OpenTheGovernment.org, (202) 332-6736
Meredith Fuchs, National Security Archive, (202) 994-7000

For Immediate Release

WASHINGTON, July 3, 2007 -- As the 41st birthday of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) approaches, a coalition of groups urged the U.S. Congress to pass a bill - currently locked behind a closed door - that would reform the FOIA and make it work better for the public. The OPEN Government Act (S. 849) would enact common-sense reforms to the FOIA and put in place incentives for federal agencies to process FOIA requests from the public in a timely manner.

DVD on Second Sunshine Week Government Secrecy Conference Released (05/31/2007)

Contact: Patrice McDermott or Emily Feldman
Organization: OpenTheGovernment.org
Phone Number: (202) 332-6736
Email: info@openthegovernment.org

For Immediate Release

WASHINGTON, May 31, 2007 -- A DVD recording of a Sunshine Week conference examining access to government information and government secrecy is now available for purchase on the Special Libraries Association (SLA) website for the cost of $25 (USD). Titled, "Closed Doors; Open Democracies? A Sunshine Week National Dialogue On Open Government & Secrecy," the DVD is of the second national government secrecy conference held during Sunshine Week and co-sponsored by organizations concerned with open government.

101 Organizations Urge Bringing OPEN Government Act to Senate Floor (05/17/2007)

Contact: Patrice McDermott, (202) 332-6736

May 17, 2007 - Today, Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell received a letter signed by 101 organizations urging them to support the OPEN Government Act (S.849) - which would institute much needed reforms to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) - and bring it to the Senate floor for a vote.

Patrice McDermott, Director of OpenTheGovernment.org said, "Reform of the Freedom of Information Act is long overdue and much needed. Agencies are needlessly delaying public access to the records of our government and have no incentives to change their practices. This legislation, which has already passed in the House, would bring more sunlight and more accountability to the process."

The OPEN Government Act has been reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee favorably without any amendments.

The letter can be found at http://www.openthegovernment.org/otg/OPENgovt_Senators

New flash animation: Democracy in Jeopardy! (04/18/2007)

Contact: Patrice McDermott or Emily Feldman
Organization: OpenTheGovernment.org
Phone Number: (202) 332-6736
Email: info@openthegovernment.org
Watch the flash animation

For Immediate Release

WASHINGTON, August 3, 2007 -- OpenTheGovernment.org invites you to come join James Madison, Ms. Public, and George W. Bush in a flash video game show - Democracy in Jeopardy! - about government openness and secrecy. The flash video can be viewed at www.openthegovernment.org -- with links provided for ways to take action to fight back against secrecy and promote openness.

Second Annual National Event Will Explore Government Secrecy and Openness (03/21/2007)

Contact: Emily Feldman or Patrice McDermott, (202) 332-6736

Closed Doors; Open Democracies? A national dialogue with government openness experts

Join Ira Flatow, host and executive producer of NPR's Science Friday, and two panels of government and other experts in a national dialogue addressing issues of access to government information, including the impact of government suppression and manipulation of scientific information on public health and safety - and accountability at the federal and the state and local levels. The event will begin with a lively discussion of the issues and end with ideas for action

DVD on Government Secrecy Conference Released (09/28/2006)

Contact: Patrice McDermott or Emily Feldman, 202-332-6736

A DVD examining the issues of government secrecy is now available for purchase on the Special Library Association (SLA) website for the cost of $25 (USD). Titled, "Are We Safer in the Dark, A Sunshine Week National Dialogue On Open Government & Secrecy," the DVD is a recording of a national teleconference held during Sunshine Week and produced through a collaboration of national organizations dedicated to open government.

Secrecy Report Card 2006: Report Finds Federal Government Still More Secretive (09/02/2006)

Contact: Emily Feldman or Patrice McDermott, 202-332-6736
View the Secrecy Report Card

Government secrecy saw further expansion last year despite growing public concern, according to a report released today by a coalition of open government advocates. The Secrecy Report Card, produced annually by OpenTheGovernment.org in order to identify trends in public access to information, found a troubling lack of transparency in military procurement, new private inventions, and the scientific and technical advice that the government receives, among other areas.

Agency Responses to President's Call for FOIA Improvement Do Not Disclose Much, Report Shows (07/03/2006)

Contact: Patrice McDermott, 202-332-6736
View the report
July 3, 2006

In recognition of the 40th anniversary of FOIA, members and staff of OpenTheGovernment.org, the Sunshine in Government Initiative (SGI), Coalition of Journalists for Open Government (CJOG), National Security Archive, and other friends of openness in government undertook a collaborative look at a sample of the plans submitted by federal agencies in response to E.O. 13392, "Improving Agency Disclosure of Information," issued on December 14, 2005.

Post Katrina-Related Contracts Online, Groups Tell Bush (12/15/2005)

December 15, 2005 --
Contact: Emily Feldman, 202-332-6736
View the letter

More than 50 organizations, including civil liberties, media, library, and environmental groups, sent a letter to President Bush urging the White House to post all spending documents related to Hurricane Katrina relief and reconstruction spending on the Internet.

Secrecy Report Card 2005: Government Secrecy Grows, Few Controls (09/04/2005)

September 1, 2005 --
Contact: Patrice McDermott, 202-332-6736
View the Secrecy Report Card 2005
See Representative Shays' statement

Government agencies are expanding secrecy in many areas, according to the findings of a report released today. The 2005 Secrecy Report Card, the second annual report on secrecy from OpenTheGovernment.org, found secrecy in 2004 extended to more classified activity, more federal advisory meetings, more new patents deemed "secret," more domestic surveillance, and more new state laws restricting public access to information.

MEDIA ALERT: Media Call for Release of 2005 Secrecy Report Card (09/01/2005)

OpenTheGovernment.org will hold a conference call for reporters and editorial board members for the release of its second annual Secrecy Report Card on Thursday, Sep. 1, 2005 at 12:30ET. This year's report card features an encyclopedia of government restrictions on "sensitive but unclassified" information, plus all-new reporting on "patent secrecy orders," state-level legislation, and closed advisory committee meetings. Examined alongside updated figures on classification, whistleblowers, and information requests under the Freedom of Information Act, these findings point to unprecedented levels of government secrecy.

The Federal Government Keeps More Secrets for Longer, New Data Shows (04/05/2005)

The federal government set a new record for keeping secrets in 2004, during which government employees chose to classify information a record 15.6 million times, according to new government figures released this week and highlighted today in an update to OpenTheGovernment.org's Secrecy Report Card.

OpenTheGovernment.org Lauds Journalists Celebrating Sunshine Week, Places Ads Online (03/17/2005)

Washington, DC - The OpenTheGovernment.org coalition applauds journalists across the country who are taking part in Sunshine Week, the first national effort by journalists to focus attention on the importance of open government. In support of the event and their efforts, we are placing online ads to promote efforts to strengthen open government, viewable from www.OpenTheGovernment.org.

'Report Card' Finds 60% Rise in Secrecy at a Rising Cost of 6.5 Billion Last Year (08/25/2004)

CONTACT: Patrice McDermott 202-332-6736
View the 2004 Secrecy Report Card.

Government data confirm what many have suspected: secrecy has increased dramatically in recent years under policies of the current administration. For every the federal government spent last year releasing old secrets, it spent an extraordinary $120 maintaining the secrets already on the books, according to an analysis by OpenTheGovernment.org.

"Secrecy Report Card: Quantitative Indicators of Secrecy in the Federal Government," is an initial effort to establish measurable benchmarks for evaluating the level of secrecy in government. The study was released Aug. 26 by OpenTheGovernment.org, a coalition of more than 30 organizations calling for more democracy and less secrecy in government.

Government Classifies Too Much Information, Congress Must Act, Groups Say (08/04/2004)

The nation's secrecy system is broken and needs overhaul, twenty groups noted in a letter to intelligence committees in the House and Senate today.

Initial secrecy about Abu Ghraib prisoner abuses and federal agency efforts to classify key sections of reports about Iraq and 9/11 failures show the national security secrecy system needs reform, the letter says. In the letter, the groups urge two basic changes. First, Congress should create an oversight board that could settle disputes about whether information should be classified. Second, Congress should establish a national classification center to guide and oversee agency decisions to stamp documents as classified. (See also PDF versions of the letter to the House intelligence committee and Senate Intelligence Committee.)

Supreme Court Denies Cheney's Bid to Avoid Discovery in Energy Task Force Decision (06/25/2004)

OpenTheGovernment.org and OMB Watch

Statement from Organizations Which Jointly Filed an Amicus Brief
Supporting the Suit Brought by Sierra Club and Judicial Watch

While it is disappointing that the Supreme Court declined to take this opportunity to embrace the principle of openness in Cheney v. United States District Court, it is heartening that the Court did not side with the administration, and instead remanded the case to the lower court.
court.