Get Iowa COVID updates on this new dashboard
This article is free to use and publish in your publication. A new website, the product of a collaboration among Iowa newspapers, will serve as a central source of Iowa COVID-19 data. The project is being led by the Iowa Newspaper Association and spearheaded by the Cedar Rapids Gazette, Des Moines Register, Iowa City Daily…
Read MoreHere’s another place we need more transparency
Randy Evans, executive directorIowa Freedom of Information Council This article is free to use and publish in your publication. There has been a lot of talk lately about why Iowa’s K-12 school districts need to be more transparent, and more accessible and more accountable, to parents and the rest of the tax-paying people of Iowa.…
Read MoreSenate change won’t better inform Iowans
Randy Evans, executive directorIowa Freedom of Information Council This article is free to use and publish in your publication. Typically, in the days leading up to the start of a new session of the Iowa Legislature, the attention is on lawmakers’ goals and priorities — and on the pledges they make to work together for…
Read MoreSchool officials haven’t learned important lesson
By Randy EvansExecutive DirectorIowa Freedom of Information Council This article is free to use and publish in your publication. The past couple of years have been challenging for Iowa’s 327 public school districts. Parents have become very engaged with their schools — and enraged, too, at times. This has revolved around masks and vaccines, what…
Read MorePublic must be informed in doctor discipline
By Randy Evans, Executive DirectorIowa Freedom of Information Council This article is free to use and publish in your publication. The Iowa Legislature’s “To Do” list should be a little longer after last week. And people need to contact their senators and representatives in the Legislature to make sure they understand their duty is to…
Read MoreRestricting access to public notices poses a threat to the public
Rick Morain, former editor-publisherJefferson Bee and Herald newspapers This article is free to use and publish in your publication. Iowans want to know what their local governments—county supervisors, city councils, school boards—are up to. They always have. The very first newspapers in many of the state’s counties regularly published local public notices, paid for by…
Read MoreGovernment losing sight of serving the public
Randy Evans, executive directorIowa Freedom of Information Council This article is free to use and publish in your publication. Several times a week, someone reaches out to me because they had difficulty learning about a government meeting or ran into obstacles trying to get government records. These calls and emails to the Iowa Freedom of Information…
Read MoreRegister editor: Big tech is squeezing the finances of newspapers in Iowa and across U.S.; here’s how an antitrust bill could help
Google and Facebook stack the deck against newspapers and broadcasters by refusing to compensate publishers for the work their journalists produce. This article is free to use and publish in your publication. Carol HunterDes Moines Register Just as Iowa is a state of small towns, it’s a state boasting an extraordinary number of small but…
Read MoreGovernment needs room for common sense
Randy Evans, executive directorIowa Freedom of Information Council This article is free to use and publish in your publication. People like to talk about what the law says. And in Iowa, the law has a lot to say. Just look at the Iowa Code. It now fills eight volumes and costs $295 for a complete set.…
Read MoreCharter schools must have sunshine, too
Randy Evans, executive directorIowa Freedom of Information Council This article is free to use and publish in your publication. The 2021 session of the Iowa Legislature will end in a few weeks, and one big issue moving toward a final vote would make charter schools easier to create as an alternative to the traditional K-12 public…
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