Deck 4: Finding Human Sources

Question 1

On the federal level, you have a right to most public records.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

A police agency can withhold public documents about ongoing investigations.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

There is a general consistency between state public records acts.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Freedom of Information is one of the five elements of the First Amendment to the Constitution.

Question 5

Journalists file only a fraction of the public records requests made to public agencies each year.

Question 6

When information is redacted, what happens to it?

A) It is deleted, erased or whited-out from a document.
B) It is released at no cost.
C) It is denied as true.
D) All of the above.

Question 7

A FOIA log is which of the following:

A) A roll of documents that is tied with a rubber band
B) An index of FOIA requests
C) A FOIA request made to the U.S. Forest Service
D) All of the above

Question 8

Which of the following tactics is least effective for getting an agency to release public documents?

A) Be as specific as possible
B) Be as broad as possible
C) Be considerate
D) Know what to ask for

Question 9

Which of the following public agencies does NOT have to abide by the FOIA?

A) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
B) The Federal Bureau of Investigation
C) The Central Intelligence Agency
D) The House of Representatives

Question 10

A public agency can charge you for public documents:

A) Based on your ability to pay
B) If you are working for a for-profit news organization
C) If it takes a long time to find your documents or they have to photocopy them
D) If there is a high demand for those documents

Question 11

What does FOIA stand for?

Question 12

What does it mean to FOIA the FOIAs?

Question 13

When MSNBC reporter Bill Dedman requested information on bridge inspections, what did he find?

Question 14

What is one way to avoid paying copying costs when you request documents through a state or federal open records law?

Question 15

If a public agency tells you that you aren't entitled to public data because it is on a spreadsheet that lists people's names and addresses, what should you do?

Question 16

How do open records acts differ from one state to another?

Question 17

What is a FOIA letter generator?

Question 18

What does it mean that you can't get records that don't exist?

Question 19

Why might you still have a difficult time getting public documents from a state agency even when you clearly have a right to those documents according to the state law?

Question 20

What is one way of narrowing a request that an agency deems too broad?