The Associated Press reports on the launch of the New England First Amendment Center, founded by the New England First Amendment Coalition, Northeastern’s School of Journalism and the Center for Urban and Regional Policy.
Northeastern’s coordinator, Walter Robinson, explains that the center will focus on ensuring access to public records, telling the AP: “Most of the people that reporters and citizens deal with who have the information — they are not up on the law — and if people understood the law better, if we had better public education on this, then we would have better compliance.”
Adds Steve Burgard, director of the J-school: “We hope a center like this for many people will be place where they can go to learn what the law is and how they can use it.”
The center’s Web site includes a blog, to which I’ll contribute occasionally.
Here is the official announcement.
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The expression “the law. . . and how they can use it” has an ominous ring. Wouldn’t “benefit from” be better than “use?”
In this case, I believe that “use” is the correct term — active, not passive. Freedom of Information laws require one to act in order to access information which would otherwise be withheld. Available for use by the general public, the laws are most frequently used by journalists, advocacy groups, and, of course, lawyers. Practically everyone benefits, as the laws make our democracy more transparent, open and workable.Kudos to NU, Robinson, Burgard and all who have made this happen.— Larz
I understand. Gossip.