The recent events in Utah -- where state legislators have rolled back decades of open government advances -- are the topic of our show airing during National Sunshine Week. We talk with Prof. Charles Davis, nationally known freedom of information expert, about what's happened in Utah.

Transparency Talk Radio

Utah blots out the sunlight: Interview with Charles Davis

The cat is out of the bag, and boy, it is a big, ugly cat: The Austin, Texas, City Council has been holding private meetings before the regular city council meetings to hash out their differences behind closed doors -- and using private e-mail accounts, private text messages and online chat programs to communicate in secret. Leading the way in reporting on this transparency tragedy is the Austin Bulldog. We'll talk with Bulldog editor Ken Martin about his reporting, the city's response and the Bulldog's lawsuit against the city alleging violations of state open government laws.

Austin, Texas' 'government in the shadows': Interview guest Ken Martin

On this week's episode, we'll talk about the problems people face having to pay to get access to public information, including copying charges, labor and research time, overhead costs, programming costs and other such fees. Many in government wish they could charge more, but open government advocates (myself included) point out that the information is ours, not the government. We already paid for it -- why should we pay for it again?

Costs for records: What you have to pay to find out what your government is up to

Tune in for our next episode of Transparency Talk Radio, a live Internet radio show/podcast on open government.

Open government in the news: Public officials' emails, expunged court records and other happenings

Join us as Edwin Bender, executive director of the National Institute on Money in State Politics -- they're followthemoney.org -- talks with us about their work to make state-level campaign finance more transparent in all 50 states.

Following the money in state campaign finance: Edwin Bender

Join us as we talk about a wiki dedicated to open government issues, SunshineReview.org, with its senior editor.

A wiki just for open government: We talk with Sunshine Review.org's Senior Editor Kristin McMurray

With legislatures in many states convening or reconvening, Transparency Talk Radio discusses ways state lawmakers could improve transparency.

What state legislatures can do to improve transparency

Let's talk about what we can do to improve government transparency this year.

Open government new year's resolutions for 2011

Scott St. Clair of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation talks about his fight to get access to records pertaining to safety issues in Washington state's ferry system -- a fight that has drawn support from transparency advocates and other journalists across the nation.

Scott St. Clair: Open government and Washington's ferry system

Laura Frank, nationally known investigative reporter and executive director of Colorado-based I-News, will be our guest today. She'll talk about I-News' most recent investigation, which probed where e-waste -- recycled computers and the like -- really wind up, and how public records and public information figured into that investigation. Laura is a friend and former colleague of mine from The Tennessean, and I know you will enjoy hearing her talk.

Open government and the environment: Laura Frank

A show about the importance of government transparency and issues in freedom of information and public access.

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