Open government - Investigate Midwest

Open Government, 1st Amendment Champions From Iowa Pick Up Honors

IowaWatch honored an outstanding journalist and long-time advocate for newspapers during its seventh annual banquet Thursday night, Sept. 26, at the Des Moines Marriot Downtown. Carol Hunter was given

By IowaWatch

/ 27 Sep 2019

Open Government, 1st Amendment Champions From Iowa Pick Up Honors

Iowa FOI Council Announces Annual 1st Amendment Award Recipients

The Iowa Freedom of Information Council this week announced the 2019 recipients of its Friend of the First Amendment Award, which is given each year in memory of longtime Iowa

By Randy Evans / Iowa Freedom of Information Council

/ 4 Sep 2019

Iowa FOI Council Announces Annual 1st Amendment Award Recipients

National Political Reporter Jenna Johnson To Headline Celebrating A Free Press And Open Government Banquet

The seventh annual Celebrating a Free Press and Open Government Banquet will celebrate the work of those who promote open government and an independent news media in Iowa the evening of Sept. 26, 2019, at the Des Moines Marriott in downtown Des Moines.

By IowaWatch

/ 13 Aug 2019

National Political Reporter Jenna Johnson To Headline Celebrating A Free Press And Open Government Banquet

Evans Opinion: There Is No Asterisk In This Disclosure Law

When he was governor, Terry Branstad often voiced his frustration that he was not able to comment on the reasons a state government employee was fired or demoted. In Branstad’

By Lyle Muller

/ 31 Jul 2019

Evans Opinion: There Is No Asterisk In This Disclosure Law

Viewing Citizens As Nuisances Is Wrong

There have been plenty of examples that raise questions whether government boards in Iowa truly understand they work for the people, not for government officials and employees --- and that they are supposed to be looking out for the best interests of taxpayers.

By Randy Evans / Stray Thoughts

/ 29 May 2019

FOI Director Op-Ed: Iowa Needs Sunshine -- On Police Videos

Sunshine Week will be observed across the nation next week. In Iowa, the sunshine next week will be obscured by clouds --- at least when it comes to citizen access to videos recorded by law officers on their squad car cameras and body cameras during incidents in which police shoot someone or when of

By Randy Evans / Stray Thoughts

/ 6 Mar 2019

FOI Director Op-Ed: Iowa Needs Sunshine -- On Police Videos

Evans: Some Public Boards Neglecting Their Duty To Taxpayers

Regrettably, some high-ranking government officials either are not paying attention to how taxpayers’ money is being spent or, more accurately, misspent --- or they are taking a cavalier well-it’s-not-my-money attitude, opinion columnist and Iowa Freedom of Information Council executive director Ran

By Randy Evans / Stray Thoughts

/ 9 Jan 2019

Evans: Some Public Boards Neglecting Their Duty To Taxpayers

Evans: A Judge Should Not Prohibit Publishing Facts

On the morning of Aug. 31, shortly after 8:30, a 12-year-old boy pulled out a gun in his seventh-grade classroom in Eldridge, a community just north

By Randy Evans / Stray Thoughts

/ 1 Jan 2019

Evans: A Judge Should Not Prohibit Publishing Facts

IowaWatch, Iowa Freedom of Information Council Honor Free Press Advocates At 2018 Banquet

IowaWatch honored an outstanding journalism educator and a long-time advocate for open government during its sixth annual banquet Thursday night, Sept. 27, at the Des Moines Marriott Downtown.

By Taylor Odekirk

/ 27 Sep 2018

IowaWatch, Iowa Freedom of Information Council Honor Free Press Advocates At 2018 Banquet

IowaWatch Co-Founder Returning To Iowa To Headline Sept. 27 Celebrating A Free Press And Open Government Banquet

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Stephen J. Berry, whose push for journalists to work thoroughly and ethically led him to co-found the Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism-IowaWatch, will be the annual Celebrating a Free Press and Open Government Banquet’s guest speaker in Des Moine

By IowaWatch

/ 16 Aug 2018

Why Journalists, Including Those With Nonprofits, Are Not Enemies Of The State

Today, the Institute for Nonprofit News joins journalists across the country in asking you, the public, to stand up for your rights to free speech and an open government. This started as a campaign by the Boston Globe to ask the President of the United States to knock off attacking the news media.

By Sue Cross, executive director and CEO, Institute for Nonprofit News

/ 16 Aug 2018

Why Journalists, Including Those With Nonprofits, Are Not Enemies Of The State

Evans: It’s Not Anti-Cop To Ask Questions In This Death

There was snow and ice on the ground in Burlington on the morning of January 6, 2015. About 10:30, police were summoned to where Autumn and Gabriel Steele were arguing outside their house.

By Randy Evans / Stray Thoughts

/ 8 Aug 2018

Evans: It’s Not Anti-Cop To Ask Questions In This Death