Troubling transparency : the history and future of Freedom of Information / edited by David E. Pozen and Michael Schudson.

New York : Columbia University Press, [2018]

KF5753 .T76 2018

9780231184984 hardcover ; alkaline paper
0231184980 hardcover ; alkaline paper
9780231184991 paperback
0231184999 paperback
9780231545808 electronic book
0231545800
9780231545808

viii, 341 pages ; 23 cm

(OCoLC)1019835507

"Today, transparency is a widely heralded value, and the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is often held up as one of the transparency movement’s canonical achievements. Yet while many view the law as a powerful tool for journalists, activists, and ordinary citizens to pursue the public good, FOIA is beset by massive backlogs, and corporations and the powerful have become adept at using it for their own interests. Close observers of laws like FOIA have begun to question whether these laws interfere with good governance, display a deleterious anti-public-sector bias, or are otherwise inadequate for the twenty-first century’s challenges. [This book analyzes] freedom of information policies in the United States and abroad―how they are working, how they are failing, and how they might be improved. Contributors investigate the creation of FOIA; its day-to-day uses and limitations for the news media and for corporate and citizen requesters; its impact on government agencies; its global influence; recent alternatives to the FOIA model raised by the emergence of zopen datay and other approaches to transparency; and the theoretical underpinnings of FOIA and the right to know. In addition to examining the mixed legacy and effectiveness of FOIA, contributors debate how best to move forward to improve access to information and government functioning."-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Online version: Troubling transparency. New York : Columbia University Press, 2018 9780231545808 (DLC) 2018000742

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Purchased from the income of the Edith L. Fisch Fund