Media
Monday, March 11, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Bill seeks to eliminate Jindal's favorite excuse for keeping records under seal
Posted by Charles Maldonado on Wed, Feb 6, 2013 at 4:08 PM
A bill filed this week by state Rep. Jerome "Dee" Richard, Independent of Thibodaux, and Sen. Rick Gallot, Democrat of Ruston, would repeal an exemption to the state Public Records Act called the "deliberative process privilege." The privilege protects deliberative (or pre-decisional) communications within the governor's office — though it's unclear just what is meant by "deliberative" and "governor's office."
The privilege has recently been applied to requests for (1A) records that were submitted after a state policy decision was made, (1B) records of communications that (arguably) themselves took place after a policy decision was made and (2) records from any executive agency, not just the Office of the Governor.
From our earlier coverage:
The News-Star attempted to confirm [Louisiana Department of Education Superintendent John] White's remarks by filing a public records request for internal DOE emails, specifically those "regarding phases included in the process for school approval for the Louisiana Scholarship program." A copy of the request was provided to Gambit by News-Star attorney William McNew.The department did not hand over the requested emails.
After the paper published an editorial excoriating the state for its lack of transparency, White responded, claiming DOE was not obligated to produce the records because of something called the "deliberative process privilege," an exemption to the Louisiana Public Records Law that Jindal rammed through the Legislature in 2009 over the objections of the state's largest newspapers. White claimed in his letter that the privilege, which critics say applies only to the governor's office, "protects documents reflecting advisory opinions, recommendations and deliberations comprising part of a process by which governmental decisions and policies are formulated."
(More after the jump)
Monday, February 4, 2013
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Super Bowl Media Day: Ray Lewis, gay marriage, root beer glazes and Edgar Allan Poe
Posted by Alex Woodward on Tue, Jan 29, 2013 at 4:20 PM
The Super Bowl Committee estimates more than 5,000 reporters arrived in New Orleans to cover Super Bowl XLVII. Today, buses unloaded them all, seemingly, into the Superdome for Media Day. Fans filled the lower bowl sideline to watch the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens host Q&A sessions with reporters, and reporters from all over the world get one-on-one with the players — attendees could tune in to free personal ear-clip radios to tune into each network or interview stage. Media Day opened to the public for the first time last year in Indianapolis.
Players sat back for an hour to wax philosophic on football, reflect on the season, answer boring questions or repeat answers to repeated questions, and get a little loose in a pre-game stress-free interview setting — or walk around among reporters and goof around on- and off-camera with the media.
Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis drew the wildebeest reporters to his crocodile trap of seemingly endless Ray Lewisms — "I have dreams. The outside world don't see those dreams. ... People ask why I'm so emotional" — while center Matt Birk confirmed his much-publicized stand against gay marriage: "I believe a marriage is between a man and a woman," and attributed his views to his Catholic background.
Louisiana scores a C+ for government website transparency
Posted by Charles Maldonado on Tue, Jan 29, 2013 at 1:41 PM
Government transparency watchdog organization Sunshine Review has released its first ever assessment of "proactive disclosure" on state, county, city and school district websites. Based on the group's 10-point transparency checklist — including current and archived budget information, contracts, lobbying activity and contact info for elected representatives — the state of Louisiana scores an overall C-plus, 33 out of 50 states for website transparency, just behind Montana. The top-ranked state was California. Nebraska scored the lowest.
Important to keep in mind: This study only scores government websites, which might not represent be Louisiana's most significant transparency problem. Also see this. And this. And this. There are more.
Of the three subcategories, Louisiana's state website scored the best, with a B-minus. Websites for the state's five largest parishes scored a C-plus, as did the five largest cities. The five largest school districts' websites scored lowest, with a D-plus.
Note: Sunshine Review's report does not say whether it counted Orleans Parish as a single district, as the state does in op-eds, or whether it only examined the Recovery School District, the larger of the two. If the former, it does not say if the website in question is the RSD website, which is hopefully a work in progress, the serviceable Orleans Parish School Board website or the ever-changing state Department of Education website.
Read the report: 2013_Transparency_Report_Card_1_.pdf
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
The New Yorker on Letten's office and "online trolls"
Posted by Alex Woodward on Tue, Dec 18, 2012 at 4:15 PM
- CHERYL GERBER
- U.S. Attorney Jim Letten at the Danziger trial verdict in August 2011.
The recent shakeups and breakups under U.S. Attorney Jim Letten amid an online comment controversy caught the eyes at The New Yorker, where Jack Hitt gives the blow-by-blow in "How Forensic Linguistics Identified Online Trolls in New Orleans." Just how exactly did investigators nail down NOLA.com commenters Henry L. Mencken1951 and eweman as Sal Perricone and Jan Mann?
Here's the (brief) saga of James Fitzgerald, "forensic linguistics" specialist and the FBI agent who helped link the Unabomber to Ted Kaczynski.
And a tip from Hitt: "Heloise-like tip to newbie trolls: don’t create an anonymous handle that includes the year of your own birth (Henry L. Mencken1951) or one that contains a homonym of your own name (eweman)."
The Daily Beast congratulates Mitch Landrieu on school reform
Posted by Stephanie Grace on Tue, Dec 18, 2012 at 8:48 AM
There’s just one catch: The innovation that earned him the prized spot on the roster, the dramatic transformation of the city’s public schools, wasn’t exactly his.
“Under Mayor Mitch Landrieu, the Crescent City has aggressively embraced education reform,” the piece says. “The result is a sea change in public education. Consider this: nationwide, just 4 percent of students attend charter schools. In New Orleans, nearly 80 percent of parents choose charters. Seven years after Katrina, the dropout rate has been cut in half, while test scores have soared by double digits.”
The specific actions that Landrieu is described as taking are actually correct, and there’s no evidence that his team oversold his role. The piece rightly points out that City Hall doesn’t control the school system, and that Landrieu has championed charters, campaigned for “reform” candidates, fought for a ground-breaking $1.8 billion lump sum from FEMA to rebuild facilities, and pursued philanthropic support.
But to make him the face of the movement — or suggest that the epic changes originated in the city and not in Baton Rouge — is as misleading as handing that honor to Gov. Bobby Jindal, another ambitious supporter who also gets plenty of national attention for his role.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Monday, December 3, 2012
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
News of the day: Zoe Sullivan on Pretrial Services; The Lens on deliberative process; T-P tours Grand Isle Shipyard bunkhouse
Posted by Charles Maldonado on Wed, Nov 21, 2012 at 11:36 AM
A few interesting news items:
Last week I wrote a little bit about the Vera Pretrial Services budget controversy, specifically critics' comparison of the program to the Philadelphia Pretrial Services Division. Independent journalist Zoe Sullivan has since done an interview with Orleans Parish First Assistant District Attorney Graymond Martin, who speaks at length about pretrial services. Martin, who used to represent the commercial bail industry, responds to that industry's criticism of the program.
Zoe Sullivan: "New Orleans Public Affairs Podcast: First Assistant District Attorney Graymond Martin"
Also, The Lens' Tyler Bridges has a story on the Jindal administration's use of the "deliberative process privilege" to shield public records. Bridges interviews a few state legislators who suggest the privilege may face a challenge during next year's legislative session.
The Lens: "Jindal administration invoking 2009 law to shield public records"
Finally, the Times-Picayune has been doing fantastic work following up on allegations that Grand Isle Shipyard, which employed some of the people aboard the Black Elk energy platform that caught fire last week, has been mistreating workers brought here from the Philippines.
Yesterday, the T-P posted a story in which Grand Isle president Mark Pregeant gives Richard Thompson a tour of the company's Galliano bunkhouse.
Further reading:
Pregeant's court statement on the bunkhouse, filed in federal court last July.
Statements from the plaintiff workers, filed in response to Pregeant's statement
Top Commenters
Recent Comments
-
Re: Review: Next To Normal
This is not a review. It is a synopsis. Thanks so much for the spolier…
- on May 24, 2013
-
Re: Gambit announces partnership with Uptown Messenger and Mid-City Messenger
Great!!!!!
Robert and Sabree are real pros, and I have only heard the best about…- on May 24, 2013
-
Re: The Green Project's Free Week starts today
Glad you could see how much effort I put into them, H Street. I often…
- on May 23, 2013
-
Re: Gambit announces partnership with Uptown Messenger and Mid-City Messenger
good move.
- on May 23, 2013
-
Re: The Green Project's Free Week starts today
Yeah, they did seem like a lot of work. Very unique and fun, though. Maybe…
- on May 23, 2013
-
Re: Gambit announces partnership with Uptown Messenger and Mid-City Messenger
Aw'Riot! Great news!
I'm gratified Kevin took my advise one night, not that he…- on May 23, 2013
-
Re: Stephanie Grace, Laura Maggi join The Advocate
Two more excellent reasons to get an Advocate New Orleans subscription.
-
on May 23, 2013
-
Re: A fresh, and refreshing, approach at Basin Seafood
This is another beautiful establishment with great service, delicious food and drink and a wonderful…
- on May 22, 2013
-
Re: NOPD asks: Have you seen this pig statue?
Oink! Oink! He might be looking for his 2 brothers........
- on May 22, 2013
-
Re: NOPD asks: Have you seen this pig statue?
It was probably those thieving trend mongers at Times-Picayune. PYOW! hehehe #pignapping
- on May 22, 2013
-
Re: NOPD asks: Have you seen this pig statue?
"Pigs seek pig."
- on May 22, 2013
-
Re: Stephanie Grace, Laura Maggi join The Advocate
We are in the middle of a revolution that is going to continue to have…
- on May 21, 2013
- More »
