Transparency a pressing issue for everyone – Ethan Shorey, Rhode Island Press Association

by Ethan Shorey, Rhode Island Press Association, commentary

In a side capacity to my job as a local newspaper editor and writer, I’m also president of the Rhode Island Press Association. To people of a certain age, that name might sound stodgy and old, but we’ve been working hard to make sure we’re focused on things that matter to the people of Rhode Island today.

One of those is to remind everyone as often as we can that there are still very strong publications that function with a mission to keep you informed and to help make our communities better places. Raising that awareness puts important stories in the public eye.

Recently, we also started accepting all-digital outlets as members, and several of those have come aboard recently.

Many of our local high school staffers and students are also aware of Rhode Island High School Journalism Day, which we brought back three years ago in a virtual capacity. Last year, our northern Rhode Island area was represented well, and I have no doubt that at least some of that was due to students here growing up knowing the importance of a local news outlet to their community and wanting to perhaps be a part of that one day.

RIPA also puts our money where our mouth is on this one, funding scholarships for students who want to go into journalism.

Another area of focus is to advocate for good policy and to make sure the government isn’t stifling the ability of average people to get information.

One bill we’ve advocated for over the past few years, and are hoping for a positive outcome this year, is Sen. Louis DiPalma’s legislation that would increase the public’s access to government documents and information. The access law offers a number of changes to how police information must be reported, including on misconduct and body camera footage, reducing costs for record searches and redaction (current practice deeply impacts news outlets’ ability to acquire information for public consumption), and increasing fines for government officials found to violate the Access to Public Records Act. That includes daily fines for willful and knowing withholdings.

To some, this might sound like “just” a press issue, but it’s a “you” issue as well. That’s by extension or if you’re ever in a position where you need to acquire key information for yourself or someone you know or love.

A quick point on the “willful and knowing” item: the vast majority of findings against state or local governments when it comes to withholding information are not deemed to be in this category. Most findings are considered the garden variety, and would never result in a fine. This is reserved for the worst offenses.

We would greatly appreciate hearing from you if you’ve been forced to deal with long and frustrating attempts to get information. Government and agencies can do so much good with the right people and processes in place, but many also know how quickly things can turn when the wrong people act improperly and then want to keep their actions secret.

Email [email protected] with your story.

I’m not naïve enough to have missed that “the media” (there I go speaking of it as some amorphous blob as I tell others not to) isn’t thought of nearly as fondly as it once was. That said, people of every political persuasion, if they’re honest with themselves, know the good that can come about when someone, whether in traditional media or in one’s alternative outlet of choice, exposes the truth.

Ethan Shorey is president of the Rhode Island Press Association and editor of The Valley Breeze and its five newspapers. 

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Publisher’s Note: Herb Weiss, RINewsToday’s contributing writer on aging issues, is a member of the Rhode Island Press Association and submits this from Ethan Shorey.