Janet Manko was publisher and editor in chief of The Lakeville Journal Company located in Lakeville, Connecticut, for 25 years. In that role, she edited the opinion pages and wrote editorials. Manko has also served on the board of New York Press Association and is currently a board member of the Connecticut Foundation for Open Government, where she previously served as president. In this interview, she speaks about how open records and open meeting laws have played a role in her work as a journalist.
Interview by Miah Green, SCSU JRN ‘25. Answers have been condensed and edited.
Can you give us a bit of detail on some stories you worked on for the Lakeville Journal?
Our paper was, and it still really is, centered on coverage of government, especially local government. It’s a community weekly newspaper group; In 1998 we had three newspapers: one in Winsted, Connecticut, the Lakeville Journal and one in New York State, the Millerton News.
And so, we kept close track of the government meetings and had reporters at every one we could. The most important meetings were not just legislative meetings, but also planning and zoning, school boards, every aspect of community life that is covered by taxpayers.
How did you become involved with FOI?
I was very fortunate; When I came to the Lakeville Journal, I was mentored by a long-time journalist whose name was Robert Estabrook. He had been the opinion editor at The Washington Post for 20 years. And so, he was part of the reason that the Lakeville Journal was so focused on government, and he was the one who brought me into the FOI groups. I feel very fortunate and honored to have been included. It’s a great joy to know that I’ve worked on, and so many others in the state of Connecticut have worked on, the importance of having open information for our citizens.
What can you tell us about the Connecticut Foundation for Open Government?
The Connecticut Foundation for Open Government is the education arm of the FOI groups in Connecticut. CFOG, as it’s known, is very committed to reaching out to students throughout Connecticut.
One of the things we’ve done, and one of the things I helped form, was an essay contest for high school students across the state. It’s been wonderful to see the response we’ve gotten from schools all over Connecticut and what Freedom of Information means to them and how they feels it affects their lives.
What was an obstacle that you’ve faced regarding FOI?
Well, I’ll say that particular fight doesn’t end. Anyone who comes under the auspices of being open to scrutiny by the public doesn’t necessarily like it, even if they’re doing the right thing. They can just be a bit paranoid about it. But if they’re not doing the right thing, all the more reason to push back against it.
And so, over the course of the past couple of decades, FOI laws in Connecticut have been whittled away.
Connecticut has had one of the strongest laws in the country since 1975, when the Freedom of Information Act first was implemented in the state. It was approved unanimously by the state legislature at that time. So, at that time, it had full support. But over time, it didn’t have full support and so it requires vigilance on the part of journalists and the public.
It’s not just journalists who use the FOI Act, it’s the public as well. Some of the complaints that come up that are the most meaningful are the ones from those in the public who are directly affected by them.
In a short summary, what does FOI mean to you?
What it means to me is that it gives the public on all levels, a chance to have direct understanding of their rights as citizens and what they can know and what people may not want them to know.
I’ve spoken to some people who have been involved with police incidents who didn’t realize that they could access a police report about that incident and that it’s really important that we as members of the public know that.
