Watergate. Benghazi. The Kennedy assassination. The need for government transparency has transcended the decades, as has the need for a tool for obtaining documents and information to hold the government accountable. The federal Freedom of Information Act was first implemented over four decades ago and now every state in the nation now has FOI legislation. Connecticut’s FOI laws were enacted in 1975, and the Freedom of Information Commission was created as an independent agency assigned the task of ensuring FOI requests are handled appropriately.
But somehow over the years, the concept behind the FOI laws—to ensure government accountability and transparency—has morphed into the media’s ability to obtain sensational material about the private lives of crime victims to splash on the front page of the newspaper or to broadcast on the 6 o’clock news. This is an unintended consequence that no one could have foreseen decades ago.
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