A state public information official in Albany last week helped us get some information we requested that was not immediately at his fingertips.
He needed to have another person work a spreadsheet that the agency had on file to spit out some specific data. The process took about an hour to complete.
You'll see the results of that inquiry in a news story soon, but the person who assisted us wanted to be clear that we should not publicize that they did this work for us.
Was it an unauthorized leak he was worried about? No. He just didn't want the word to get out that they actually put that kind of work into a media request for information.
Welcome to the world of New York state public information.
Having once worked in the Albany news media market, I've heard stories from veteran journalists there about how the flow of information to the public has changed over the years.
Unfortunately, in the most basic way, the change has been for the worse.
Even though we're now working in an era when technology gives us easier and faster access to many documents, the ability to get information is greatly hindered by the approach taken by many state agencies to reporter inquiries.
Many years ago, state agency press offices operated with a philosophy that they were public servants whose job it was to facilitate the free flow of information. They worked cooperatively with journalists who were trying to dig up information that might expose a problem in the way government was operating.
Today such cooperation rarely exists. The basic premise for most agencies these days is to provide the least amount of information possible. At the same time, many of them put considerable energy into promotion, making calls and issuing press releases highlighting the great work of their agencies.
I expressed hope in this column at the beginning of 2007 that the approach would change with a new administration. Unfortunately, I saw few differences from the 12 years of George Pataki at the helm once Eliot Spitzer took over. And I'm also unimpressed with the Paterson administration's approach.
There's certainly a few exceptions out there. Reporters figure out soon enough which press officers are willing to put some effort into a request, and which ones prefer to stonewall.
Sadly, the ones who do try hard in their taxpayer-funded PR jobs - such as the person I mentioned at the beginning of this column - are probably not the ones who typically get the promotions.
Executive editor Jeremy Boyer's columns appear Saturdays in The Citizen and he can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 231 or jeremy.boyer@lee.net
You'll see the results of that inquiry in a news story soon, but the person who assisted us wanted to be clear that we should not publicize that they did this work for us.
Was it an unauthorized leak he was worried about? No. He just didn't want the word to get out that they actually put that kind of work into a media request for information.
Welcome to the world of New York state public information.
Having once worked in the Albany news media market, I've heard stories from veteran journalists there about how the flow of information to the public has changed over the years.
Unfortunately, in the most basic way, the change has been for the worse.
Even though we're now working in an era when technology gives us easier and faster access to many documents, the ability to get information is greatly hindered by the approach taken by many state agencies to reporter inquiries.
Many years ago, state agency press offices operated with a philosophy that they were public servants whose job it was to facilitate the free flow of information. They worked cooperatively with journalists who were trying to dig up information that might expose a problem in the way government was operating.
Today such cooperation rarely exists. The basic premise for most agencies these days is to provide the least amount of information possible. At the same time, many of them put considerable energy into promotion, making calls and issuing press releases highlighting the great work of their agencies.
I expressed hope in this column at the beginning of 2007 that the approach would change with a new administration. Unfortunately, I saw few differences from the 12 years of George Pataki at the helm once Eliot Spitzer took over. And I'm also unimpressed with the Paterson administration's approach.
There's certainly a few exceptions out there. Reporters figure out soon enough which press officers are willing to put some effort into a request, and which ones prefer to stonewall.
Sadly, the ones who do try hard in their taxpayer-funded PR jobs - such as the person I mentioned at the beginning of this column - are probably not the ones who typically get the promotions.
Executive editor Jeremy Boyer's columns appear Saturdays in The Citizen and he can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 231 or jeremy.boyer@lee.net
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