The use of public records is common and necessary in the world of journalism. Many journalists rely on public information to bring attention to important issues and inform the public.
At The Miami Student, we attempt to present the most reliable, informative and interesting news for Miami University students and the rest of the university and Oxford community, which often requires the use of public records. The accessibility of these records, however, is often a significant issue for our reporters.
On multiple occasions during my term as editor in chief, editors and reporters have requested specific information from university offices in order to complete stories. In some cases, Miami employees are informative and cooperative, but too often we run into roadblocks in securing documents that should be available to journalists upon request.
The Ohio Sunshine laws require public offices, including public universities, to make various types of information available to journalists upon request. These records are required to be processed and the items returned to the journalist who requested them within a reasonable period of time. While "reasonable period of time" is not defined outright, seven to 14 business days is typically the generally accepted stipulation.
In one instance, our newspaper made a public records request close to Thanksgiving break. When the request was made, our editors were told it would take longer because members of the university would be busy and possibly out of the office because of the Wednesday through Sunday university break. While this may sound like a legitimate excuse on the surface, it does not fall within the confines of the Sunshine laws. Not to mention, it left us with a hole to fill while we waited for the information we needed.
In this case, the university community was not informed about important occurrences in a timely fashion because the student newspaper was denied quick access to public records.
Unfortunately, there are many other causes of concern that are too numerous to list here, but even more disconcerting is the fact that this is not uniquely a Miami problem.
Many student journalists at public universities across the state of Ohio have been denied access to public records and even public meetings that are required to be open under the state's Sunshine laws. In fact, a 2006 audit found nearly 60 percent of basic public records were unavailable to student journalists on Ohio campuses.
As a result, many student journalists will gather Saturday, Feb. 26 in Athens, Ohio to bring this issue to light and author a call to action.
The Ohio Sunshine Summit, sponsored by the Ohio University chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Radio Television Digital News Association, will be used as a forum for student and professional journalists to discuss press freedom and create a policy to present to the Ohio Board of Regents and the University System of Ohio.
The event will certainly prove to be interesting and will hopefully be productive in bringing about reform, but it should not be necessary.
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Citizens and journalists in a free society have a right to know what their government and public entities are doing. Not only are there laws that require this, but as citizens of the United States of America we should demand it. Our country was founded upon beliefs for a free and open society with a government held accountable by its citizens and a free press.
While whether or not student newspapers are able to access public records may seem trivial in the grand scheme of things, it is a basic right that is being denied and should be defended. Besides, this may just be the tip of the iceberg that could have much larger implications.
Miami and other universities in Ohio need to be more compliant with Sunshine laws. They should have nothing to hide, and they are required to meet journalists' requests that fall under the law. If we don't demand it, no one else will hold them accountable.
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