More than 150 municipalities and every school board and county commission in West Virginia will receive invitations to an educational panel presentation on the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act being sponsored by the West Virginia University School of Journalism Wednesday, March 13, at 7 p.m.
A panel of Freedom of Information Act experts and officials will be on hand in Room 458 of the Business&Economics Building to discuss the act. The panel is part of Journalism Week 2002, a yearly celebration of journalism sponsored by the WVU Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism.
“Rights and Responsibilities: Duties and Obligations of the Freedom of Information Act”is the outgrowth of Project Access. The presentation is open to the public.
Project Access, a collaborative research project among the WVU Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism, West Virginia Press Association, the state Associated Press Managing Editors and state newspapers, explored whether the information offered by officials in all 55 counties rose to the obligations proscribed by law. The project, released in January, garnered statewide attention when it tracked a multitude of FOIA violations in offices of sheriff, county clerk, county commission and school superintendent.
As an extension of the statewide project, SOJ Dr. Terry Wimmer directed WVU journalism students in an audit of University offices. Many University officials showed the same lack of knowledge about their duties under the law as county officials.
“This important audit and discussion of freedom of information is a must for every citizen,”said SOJ Dean Christine Martin.
Next weeks discussion, which will feature WVU President David Hardesty, SOJ student Jennifer Yon, Charleston Gazette reporter Ken Ward Jr., Hancock County Sheriff Jeff Woofter, state Attorney General Darrell McGraw, Wood County Prosecuting Attorney Ginny Conley and Charleston Daily Mail Publisher Sam Hindman, is being held to build greater knowledge about FOIA for citizens who might wish to use it and for public officials whose duty it is to administer the law fairly and efficiently.
The West Virginia Freedom of Information Act allows citizens to have”full and complete information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of those who represent them as public officials and employees.”