The North Carolina Open Government Coalition awarded a Sunshine Award for Journalism to WSOC-TV Channel 9 out of Charlotte for its efforts to demand accountability from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department after the police department announced major changes to its public information and public records policies. The award was presented at the annual N.C. News and …
The North Carolina Open Government Coalition awarded a Sunshine Award for Citizen transparency work to Associate Professor Ryan Thornburg, who teaches journalism in the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The award was presented at the annual N.C. News and Information Summit held at Elon University …
UNC journalism professor Ryan Thornburg wins Sunshine Award Read More »
The North Carolina Open Government Coalition awarded the 2023 Sunshine Award for Government work to Janet Pierson, clerk for the Town of Huntersville. The award was presented at the annual N.C. News and Information Summit held at Elon University on Sunshine Day. The Sunshine Award recognizes Pierson’s more than 20 years of dedicated service to …
Huntersville clerk Janet Pierson wins Sunshine Award Read More »
Thanks to our generous sponsors, the North Carolina News & Information Summit is able to host dynamic, engaging sessions on freedom of information and news sustainability with the goal of improving North Carolina citizens’ access to critical information. Read on to learn more about our sponsors and check in on their efforts to improve news …
Sponsor Spotlight at the NC News & Information Summit Read More »
The North Carolina Open Government Coalition is urging a federal appeals court to overturn a lower court ruling that restricts public access to non-confidential court records. In 2012, clerks of court in Virginia launched a program that provides electronic remote access to non-confidential court records and filings in Virginia civil cases. However, remote access is …
Coalition joins Reporters Committee brief in 4th Circuit court records case Read More »
North Carolina’s Open Meetings Law (OML) requires public bodies to conduct their business in public. Public bodies must notify the public of regularly scheduled, special and emergency meetings, must deliberate and vote in public, and must create a record of public business by keeping minutes. When public officials meet in small groups to discuss public …
Public Official Small Groups: Do public servant check-ins violate the Open Meetings Law? Read More »
North Carolina legislative leadership has implemented a policy to automatically delete legislators’ emails after three years. This move raises a number of legal and administrative problems for open government in North Carolina.
The NC Administrative Office of the Courts has decided to retire the ACIS criminal extract, a tool used by journalists and researchers to track trends in criminal justice in North Carolina. We’re asking them to reconsider.
Note: N.C. Open Government Coalition board member Amanda Martin contributed this post. Martin serves as counsel for the North Carolina Press Association and Supervising Attorney for the First Amendment Law Clinic at Duke University. The N.C. Court of Appeals handed down some very good news for journalists this month. The case arose after the arrest …
N.C. Appeals Court Strengthens Fair Report Privilege Read More »
The N.C. Open Government Coalition explains the public records implications of universities’ requests to monitor faculty and staff e-mail and cloud storage.
