Introduction: Are we losing our best stories?

Introduction: Are we losing our best stories?

Two years before Sept. 11, 2001, then-Cleveland Plain Dealer reporter Beth Marchak revealed serious problems with how airlines handled hazardous materials. Many airlines, she wrote, continued to commit violations and simply paid the fines rather than fix the problems.

"The FAA is ignoring years of enforcement records that already identify repeat violators, can't tell if hazardous materials-related problems are solved, is reluctant to pursue criminal cases, and has trouble tracking fines, officials at the agency say," Marchak wrote.

But shortly after Sept. 11, when reporters became more interested in analyzing the data from airports in their coverage areas, the FAA closed the information from public release, citing security reasons. The agency now releases some of the information, but withholds any records relating to hazardous materials or security breaches.

While many journalists were aware of the damage Sept. 11 did to the availability of open records in the United States, openness was already being hit from another angle. Privacy considerations began making it more difficult for reporters and the public to get records relating to individuals.

The past two decades of journalism in the United States generated a collection of important stories that made significant changes to benefit the public interest. But reporting many of those stories would be difficult or impossible today because of greater restrictions on access to institutions, events and information. Whether by acts of Congress, new rules by federal agencies, decisions by courts, or even overreactions by administrators and bureaucrats, restrictions on access have led to a host of "lost stories" that are no longer informing the public about how its government works.

This guide reviews some of those lost stories, discusses future risks that journalists should watch for, and advises journalists how to compensate for the shortfalls in access.