Memo to: President-elect Barack Obama.
Subject: Openness and Transparency in Government
Mr. President-elect:
Our purpose in writing is to request that you make a key element of your “change” agenda a reversal of the Bush administration’s disregard of the Freedom of Information Act and its general disrespect for the public’s right to know.
All indications are that you revere the importance to our democracy of openness and transparency in government. Your co-sponsorship of a federal shield law for reporters, which may reach your desk next year, is evidence that you understand that journalists need clear protection from being forced to identify confidential sources if the public is to learn about the most serious cases of corruption and abuse in government and industry.
We also like your apparent willingness to talk directly to the people and be questioned openly by the press. You do have a tendency, though, to want to manage the flow of information. That happened with your campaign, and it’s happening now with your transition team. We understand the desire to maintain a certain image of authority and decisiveness. That’s important in leadership. But the legitimate control of information, say, to avoid sending mixed signals and confusing the public, can quickly devolve into secrecy. And we know where that story usually ends.
The Sunshine in Government Initiative and the American Society of Newspaper Editors have made a strong statement in support of open government to your transition team and to members of Congress. We think the following SGI recommendations make sense, and we urge you to act on them:
1. Restore the presumption of disclosure across the executive branch. Federal agencies should exercise their discretion to withhold information under the Freedom of Information Act only when a foreseeable harm would result from disclosure.
2. Create an independent, online ombudsman to help citizens access their government.
3. Ban agencies from proposing or endorsing unnecessary statutory exemptions from disclosure.
4. Speak on the record, and urge your senior deputies and aides to do the same, in all statements about policy and current news about public matters.
Your successful campaign will likely go down in history as one of the most cleverly organized and brilliantly executed. Your Internet strategy, according to The New York Times, has “rewritten the rules on how to reach voters, raise money, organize supporters, manage the news media, track and mold public opinion, and wage — and withstand — political attacks.”
That powerful use of the free flow of information should be the foundation of your administration’s policies regarding the public’s right to know. Such a change would be truly historic.
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