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03/08/07
AP PRESS RELEASE
AP's Tom Curley to testify about the
Freedom of Information Act at Senate hearing
NEW YORK -- Associated Press President and CEO Tom Curley
is set to testify on Capitol Hill at a March 14 hearing by
the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Freedom of Information
Act. Curley will be representing the "Sunshine in Government
Initiative," a coalition of news organizations and journalism-related
groups whose mission is to promote policies enhancing public
oversight of access to government information.
Wednesday's Senate hearing is called "Open Government:
Reinvigorating the Freedom of Information Act." Other
witnesses scheduled to join Curley are: Meredith Fuchs, general
counsel of the National Security Archive; Sabina Haskell,
editor of the Brattleboro (Vt.) Reformer; and Katherine Cary,
general counsel of the Texas attorney general's office.
Curley has made AP's longstanding commitment to the people's
right to know a hallmark of his leadership since he became
the 12th person to lead the news cooperative in June 2003.
A chapter is devoted to freedom of information in the soon-to-be
published AP history book "Breaking News: How The Associated
Press Has Covered War, Peace, and Everything Else" (Princeton
Architectual Press, June 2007).
The AP and Curley played a critical role in the establishment
of the Washington, D.C.-based "Sunshine in Government
Initiative" when it was formed in 2004 to promote accessible,
accountable and open government. Besides the AP, the other
media groups in the coalition are the American Society of
Newspaper Editors, the Association of Alternative News Weeklies,
the Coalition of Journalists for Open Government, National
Newspaper Association, Newspaper Association of America, Radio-Television
News Directors Association, The Reporters Committee for Freedom
of the Press, and the Society of Professional Journalists.
In February, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's
subcommittee on information policy held a hearing in which
the "Sunshine in Government Initiative" urged Congress
to create an independent ombudsman within the federal government
to improve training and compliance with the FOIA and act as
a liaison for people frustrated in their efforts to use the
law to obtain records.
This month's Senate hearing on FOIA will be held during "Sunshine
Week 2007," the third year of a national effort to initiate
a public dialogue in the United States about the people's
right to know.
Curley first outlined his plan for increased open government
when he called on news industry colleagues to do more to protect
freedom of information. "The powerful have to be watched,
and we are the watchers," he said in his May 2004 Hays
Press Enterprise lecture.
After Sunshine Week 2005, Curley told the National Freedom
of Information Coalition that "the most important battle
lines are drawn and the greatest advances on FOI have been
made in your bailiwicks -- in county seats and city halls
and statehouses." During Sunshine Week 2006, Curley was
inducted into the National Freedom of Information Act Hall
of Fame. In July 2006, the National Press Club presented Curley
with its John Aubuchon Freedom of the Press Award for extraordinary
efforts to raise awareness and strengthen support for freedom
of information issues.
ABOUT THE AP
The Associated Press is the essential global news network,
delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world
to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today
is the largest and most trusted source of independent news
and information. On any given day, more than half the world's
population sees news from AP.
On the Net:
Sunshine in Government Initiative at http://www.sunshineingovernment.org/
March 11-17, 2007 Sunshine Week at http://sunshineweek.org/index.cfm?id=5302
FOI News from The Associated Press at
http://www.ap.org/FOI/foi_apnews.html
Tom Curley's Hays Press Enterprise Lecture at http://www.ap.org/pages/about/whatsnew/hayspress.html
Contact: Jack Stokes, Corporate Communications, 212.621.1720
AP PRESS RELEASE
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