Records requesting is the backbone of sunshine week, great Post reporting.
It’s sunshine week.
That’s not a reference to the weather, but a term to shed light (sorry for the cliché) on state laws concerning access to public records.
News agencies in Ohio encourage anyone and everyone, during this week in particular, to file records requests in honor of this week.
Our tip: You don’t have to be a genius — or even a journalist — to ask to see records. There are multiple templates online to guide you through the process.
And there are a lot of papers you are legally allowed to see. All you have to do is ask.
Oftentimes, The Post’s enterprising reporting has come to be because of public records our staff has requested. Among the stories we’ve written using public records are:
- A breakdown of the university’s “General Fee”
- A comparison of university salaries
- A look at who gets served with the most trash tickets
At Ohio University, all records requests for information are filed with the university’s legal office. Here’s a list of some of our outstanding inquiries:
- Documents associated with the investigation of Greg Emery, the previous Global Leadership Center director
- A list of work orders on OU’s Athens campus per building
- A list of how Student Senate awarded its SAC funding, a pool of money that Student Senate distributes to student organizations
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We encourage you to take advantage of that sunshine (there’s the cliché again) and read up about what information is at your fingertips. If you have any information you’d like us to ask for or stories you want us to pursue, please email us at: newstips@thepostathens.com.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post's executive editors: editor-in-chief Jim Ryan, managing editor Sara Jerde, opinion editor Xander Zellner and projects editor Allan Smith. Post editorials are independent of the publication's news coverage.
