Coalition promotes access to records Right-to-know law education planned

AUGUSTA – Several Maine media groups are teaming up with other organizations to promote public access to government records.

Representatives of the fledgling Freedom of Information Coalition met Wednesday and expressed hope that the new network will be able to broaden understanding of existing right-to-know law within government and the public at large.

Organizer Irwin Gratz, president of the Maine chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, said access advocates long have been concerned that Maine’s guarantees of access to government information are “weak” compared to other states.

Groups signing on with the new coalition include the Society of Professional Journalists, the Maine Press Association, the Maine Daily Newspaper Publishers Association, the Maine Association of Broadcasters, the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, the Maine Library Association and the Natural Resources Council of Maine.

Beside planning to focus on education, Gratz said the coalition also would attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of current law and “perhaps to lobby for change if we think it’s needed.”

Speaking to reporters after the coalition’s meeting, Gratz said the group is unlikely to develop legislation of its own for consideration at the State House this year and that it will not necessarily mount an immediate presence in the Capitol.

Gratz and other coalition advocates said a basic goal is to try to counter perceptions among policy-makers that right-to-know measures are merely “press bills.”

Outlining its mission in a set of bylaws, the coalition declares: “We seek broad access to information of and about government … Government in the sunshine, we believe, is the best guarantor of a strong democracy.”