skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Oklahoma college students are invited to enter FOI Oklahoma’s third annual freedom of information essay contest by writing a paper of about 500 words on one of the following topics:
- How have you used Oklahoma’s Open Meeting and Open Records laws to encourage and facilitate an informed citizenry’s participation in government?
- Should the public have access to emails and other written communications between Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin and her Cabinet regarding the creation and implementation of state policy?
Please include at the top of your essay the question you are answering. No other title, please.
Students should research the topic as well as write creatively and personally.
Entries must be typed and double-spaced.
Cash prizes of $300, $200 and $100 will be awarded to the first-, second- and third-place winners respectively.
Essay winners will be recognized and receive their prizes during FOI Oklahoma’s sixth annual Sunshine Week Conference on March 9 at OU's Gaylord College of Journalism & Mass Communication in Norman.
Winning essays will be distributed at the conference and published on FOI Oklahoma’s website.
Entries must be received by 5 p.m., Feb. 25.
Send entries as email attachments to Joey Senat, OSU School of Media & Strategic Communications, at joey.senat@okstate.edu. Entries are preferred in Word or PDF format.
Each entry must include in the top left-hand corner (single-spaced) the STUDENT’S:
- Name
- School
- Mailing address
- Phone number
- Email address
If you have questions about the contest, please contact Joey Senat at (405) 744-8277 or joey.senat@okstate.edu.
Oklahoma college students are invited to enter FOI Oklahoma’s second annual freedom of information essay contest.
Any college student may enter by writing an essay of about 500 words on one of the following topics:
- How have you used Oklahoma’s Open Meeting and Open Records laws to encourage and facilitate an informed citizenry’s participation in government?
- How do violations of Oklahoma’s Open Meeting and Open Records laws by public universities and colleges diminish public confidence in higher education?
- Are Oklahoma’s Open Meeting and Open Records laws adequately enforced to protect the public’s need to know?
Students should research the topic as well as write creatively and personally.
Entries must be typed and double-spaced.
Essay winners will be recognized and receive their prizes during FOI Oklahoma’s fifth annual Sunshine Week Conference on March 10 in Oklahoma City.
Winning essays will be distributed at the conference and published on FOI Oklahoma’s website.
Entries must be received by 5 p.m., Feb. 22.
E-mail entries as attachments to Joey Senat, OSU School of Media & Strategic Communications, at joey.senat@okstate.edu.
Each entry must include at the top (single-spaced) the STUDENT’S:
- Name
- School
- Mailing address
- Phone number
- Email address
If you have questions about the contest, please contact Joey Senat at (405) 744-8277 or joey.senat@okstate.edu.
An internationally recognized expert on open government laws will offer his insight on creating a state agency that Oklahomans can go to for help when public officials wrongly withhold records or restrict access to open meetings.
As executive director for the nation’s first-such state agency, Robert J. "Bob" Freeman is responsible for providing advice about New York's open records and meeting laws to the public, state and local governments, and the media.
Freeman's keynote address to FOI Oklahoma’s fourth annual Sunshine Week Conference on March 12 in Oklahoma City also will offer advice on making Oklahoma’s open government laws work for the public.
This year’s conference theme is "Putting Muscle Behind Oklahoma’s FOI Laws." The conference, set at The Oklahoman Tower, 9000 N. Broadway, also will feature:
- State representatives discussing bills requiring the Legislature to comply with Oklahoma’s Open Meeting and Records laws;
- A panel of local heroes who have gone to court seeking information under the Open Records Act and challenging the conduct of public bodies under the Open Meeting Act; and
- A workshop training the public to use the Open Records Act to request records and to spot the most-likely violations of the Open Meeting Act.
The luncheon will include a tribute to former Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Marian Opala. Recipients of FOI Oklahoma Inc.'s annual Marian Opala First Amendment Award and three freedom-of-information awards will be recognized, as will the winners of its first FOI essay contest for college students.
More information on the conference and a registration form can be found at www.foioklahoma.org. Please register soon because seating is limited.
The daylong conference kicks off with Freeman’s keynote speech at 9 a.m.
Freeman was legal counsel for the New York State Committee on Open Government at its inception in 1974 and became its executive director in 1976. He also is co-author of New York's Freedom of Information and Personal Privacy Protection laws.
"Bob was the first official in the U.S. to conceive of, and implement, an office that is now replicated in a number of states, provinces and countries," an FOI advocate said last year when Freeman was inducted into the national Open Government Hall of Fame.
"Bob was also one of the original proponents of the concept that freedom of information is not merely a legal mandate, but an ethical responsibility for all government officials."
The committee, a division of the New York Secretary of State's Office, is composed of five members from government and six from the public, including at last two representing the news media.
Freeman and the committee are responsible for overseeing the implementation of the state's open government laws and administering the Personal Privacy Protection Law. Freeman has written about 17,000 advisory opinions on behalf of the committee at the request of government officials, the public and the news media. He also has provided several thousand oral opinions by telephone.
Courts typically agree with his advisory opinions, Freeman told the FOI Oklahoma Blog recently.
A financial analysis showed that the committee costs each New York taxpayer less than one cent per year, Freeman said. He and his staff conducted about 90 training programs for the public, government officials and the media last year.
Freeman also has offered advice and consultation on open government laws and concepts throughout the United States and in Canada, the Far East, Eastern Europe and Latin America. He helped with the development of Japan's first access to records law.
"Robert Freeman is one of the people everyone in the Freedom of Information movement has turned to for advice and legal know-how," said Charles Davis, former executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition. "He stands as one of the great voices of FOI and has talked to groups, large and small, about the topic more often than anyone else on the planet."
Joey Senat, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
OSU School of Media & Strategic Communications
Oklahoma college students are invited to enter FOI Oklahoma's first freedom of information essay contest.
Any student may enter by writing an essay of about 500 words on one of the following topics:
- Do violations of Oklahoma's Open Meeting and Open Records laws diminish public confidence in state and local government?
- Do Oklahoma’s Open Meeting and Open Records laws adequately encourage and facilitate an informed citizenry’s participation in state and local government?
- Should the Oklahoma Legislature be subject to the state’s Open Meeting and Open Records laws?
Students are encouraged to do factual research on the topic but also to write creatively and personally, rather than to write a report. Entries should be typed and double-spaced.
Cash prizes will be awarded to winning essays. First prize is $300, second place is $200, and third place is $100.
Essay winners will be recognized and receive their prizes during FOI Oklahoma’s fourth annual Sunshine Week Conference on March 12 in Oklahoma City. (Prizes will be mailed to winners who cannot attend.)
Entries must be received by 5 p.m., Feb. 23.
E-mail entries as attachments to:
Joey Senat, OSU School of Media & Strategic Communications
Joey.senat@okstate.edu
Each entry must include at the top (single-spaced) the STUDENT’S:
- Name
- School
- Mailing address
- Phone number
- E-mail address
If you have questions about the contest, please contact Joey Senat by e-mail or at (405) 744-8277.
The American Society of News Editors is seeking nominees to identify the top three Local Heroes of 2010 who fought tirelessly last year to make their state or local public institutions more open and accessible.
FOI Oklahoma Inc. also is seeking nominations for its annual awards recognizing individuals and organizations that promote the free flow of information to the public.
Both sets of awards are part of the national Sunshine Week celebration March 14 - 19.
The deadline for nominations in the national contest is Feb. 26. ASNE encourages local media and civic organizations to nominate one of their own employees or members to compete for a Local Hero prize. Nominations may be submitted by completing a brief form on the Sunshine Week Web site and uploading supporting materials.
Some examples of the kinds of achievements that could qualify for Local Hero status include the following:
- A citizen who launched a successful campaign to open local public meetings.
- A blogger who filed a state or federal FOIA request or sued a public institution under FOIA laws and uncovered previously hidden information that had a major impact in their community.
- An investigative reporter whose use of state or federal public-records laws revealed a threat that moved local officials to make changes that protected the safety of local citizens.
The first-place winner will receive an all-expenses paid trip in April to Washington, D.C., to be honored at the 2010 ASNE convention. The second- and third-place winners will receive $500 and $250, respectively. All the winners will be profiled on the Sunshine Week Web site, and their accomplishments will be publicized by Sunshine Week staff and participating groups.
Feb. 22 is the nomination deadline for FOI Oklahoma's awards. Nominations may be made via e-mail to foiawards@gmail.com or via mail to FOI Awards, PO Box 5315, Edmond, OK 73083-5315.
Nominations must include a letter of no more than 250 words justifying why the person or organization is deserving of the award.
The Ben Blackstock Award is presented to a non-governmental person or organization that has shown a commitment to freedom of information. The Sunshine Award goes to a public official or governmental body that has demonstrated a commitment to open meetings and open records.
The Black Hole Award recognizes those who attempted to thwart the public's right to know.
This year’s awards will be presented March 13 during FOI Oklahoma's third annual Sunshine Conference in Oklahoma City.
Sunshine Week, launched in 2005 by ASNE, is held annually to promote dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Participants include hundreds of print, broadcast and online news media, civic groups, libraries, nonprofits, schools and others interested in the public's right to know.
Joey Senat, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
OSU School of Journalism
