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"Enacted in 1966, the Freedom of Information Act (or FOIA) was designed to promote oversight of governmental activities, under the notion that most users would be journalists. Today, however, FOIA is largely used for purposes other than fostering democratic accountability. Instead, most request...
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| Main Authors: | |
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| Published: |
Cambridge University Press,
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| Publisher Address: | Cambridge, United Kingdom : |
| Publication Dates: | 2021. |
| Literature type: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | |
| Summary: |
"Enacted in 1966, the Freedom of Information Act (or FOIA) was designed to promote oversight of governmental activities, under the notion that most users would be journalists. Today, however, FOIA is largely used for purposes other than fostering democratic accountability. Instead, most requesters are either individuals seeking their own files, businesses using FOIA as part of commercial enterprises, or others with idiosyncratic purposes like political opposition research. In this sweeping, empirical study, Margaret Kwoka documents how agencies have responded to the large volume of non-oversight requesters by creating new processes, systems, and specialists, which in turn has had a deleterious impact on journalists and the media. To address this problem, Kwoka proposes a series of structural solutions aimed at shrinking FOIA to re-center its oversight purposes. -- |
| Carrier Form: | x, 261 pages ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: |
9781108710893 1108710891 9781108482745 1108482740 |
| Index Number: | KF5753 |
| CLC: | D971.228 |
| Call Number: | D971.228/K988 |
| Contents: | Why free information? -- FOIA as oversight -- It is not the news media -- immigration -- Other first-person requesting -- FOIA, Inc. -- Information resellers -- Idiosyncratic requesters -- The problem with repurposing FOIA -- Affirmative disclosure -- Redesigning agency adjudications -- Customizing information delivery -- Conclusion. |