News-Record.com

Score another one for bloggers: Jeff Jarvis of Buzz Machine filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Federal Communications Commission and discovered that the record $1.2 million indecency fine levied by the agency against Fox TV for an episode of "Married by America" resulted from a grand total of three original complaints.

Three. That's not a typo.

I had more to say about that in my personal blog, but for the purposes of this blog, let me echo something else Jeff says:

You, too, can report on government through Freedom of Information Act requests. It is incredibly easy. And it is your right.

All I did was go to this FOIA page on the FCC's site and fill out a basic form. And look what came back to me: A story reporters didn't bother getting when they wrote about this FCC action.

[He inserts an image of the letter he received.]

If an agency has to copy more than a certain number of pages (100 in this case) or spend more than a certain number of hours on a request (two here), they will charge you. But you have the opportunity to say how much you're willing to pay when you file the request. [Addendum from Lex: You can ask the agency to waive the fees when you believe dissemination of the information you request will "primarily benefit the public"; such requests typically are granted.]

You can go to any government agency and to local government as well and file such requests. You want to know about your mayor's expense account? You want to see how other agencies use your tax dollars? File an FOIA request.

The Freedom of Information Act isn't meant for reporters. It's meant for citizens ... and now citizen journalists. So use it.

I agree with Jeff, but let me add a couple of caveats.

First, the Freedom of Information Act applies only to federal records, and only executive-branch records at that. (It doesn't help you with Congress, in other words.) If you want to keep an eye on the mayor, etc., as Jeff suggests, your own state's open-records law probably is what governs access to the relevant records. North Carolina is blessed with one of the country's more public-friendly open-records laws, I'm happy to say. But if you're not from 'round here, the Reporters' Committee for Freedom of the Press has info on all 50 states' laws here.

Second, not to discourage you, but I speak from painful experience when I tell you that many FOIA requests don't get filled anywhere near as quickly or productively as Jeff's did.

Still, the FOIA is for you as much as it is for the N&R, just as the First Amendment is. Indeed, fewer than half the FOIA requests filed each year come from working journalists. So go to it.

And if you stumble across a good story, by all means, get in touch.