To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Freedom of Information Laws in Connecticut, students in the fall 2024 JRN Capstone 490 course worked on a project highlighting FOI.
Brandon Cortés, Miah Green and Ben Martin reported on several factors including the history of Connecticut’s FOI law, how it’s used and the exemptions to the law.
The students interviewed several key figures involved in Connecticut’s FOI law and open government advocacy, including Colleen Murphy, Connecticut’s FOI Commission executive director and Mitchell Pearlman, the retired executive director of the commission. They also interviewed members of Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information and the Connecticut Foundation for Open Government.
Their work was recently published in the Courant, and in CT Public and the website for CCFOI. More of their in-depth reporting can be viewed here.
The project was distributed through the Connecticut Student Journalism Collaborative, which partners student journalists with media outlets in the state.
