Highlights from Fritz Byers’ session

Thanks to all of you who attended the noon briefing with Blade newsroom attorney Fritz Byers. He will be back in the building at noon on Wednesday, July 24.

Our next session’s topic is still under review, but we discussed the possibility of focusing on our reporting rights with social media and online sources.

Also, Fritz is going to review our public records request templates (on yoursource) and help us devise new forms that can be used for different situations. These are forthcoming.

General highlights of today’s session included:

• Fritz said Ohio’s public records laws have added more exemptions over the years, which does not always work in our favor. Similarly, the makeup of some courts also is not favorable to journalists.
• We should be as specific as possible when requesting public records. Oftentimes, we see delays with overly broad requests. We should put our requests in writing and also continue checking (in writing) on our requests.
• The law does not cite a specific time period/deadline for obtaining a record from an entity. In the past, and going forward, he still recommends us first asking to review a public record, such as a personnel file, as this could be the quicker option.
• Fritz commends us on some of our recent fights for records and scrutiny of open meetings, which have included writing stories about delays and violations.
• Executive sessions must be specified and voted on before a public body can go behind closed doors. They must come out and take any action in public. Saying a body is going into executive session is not specific enough, nor is saying they will discuss things such as personnel matters.

We’re planning to make these regular meetings in coming months. As you have suggestions for certain sessions, please let me know.

Thanks,
Kim