Alert 12/19/05
12/19/2005
Two items for your immediate attention.
1. Attached is a letter drafted by the Military Reporters and Editors protesting the revocation of credentials and expulsion of an embedded reporter and a photographer in Kuwait because they photographed war-damaged Humvees.
The incident raises serious questions about the implementation of new and arbitrary embed regulations and their implementation by military commanders. The prohibition in this instance can have no purpose other than to keep possibly negative images from the American public.
Sig Christenson, president of MRE, intends to send the letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Wednesday morning. If your organization would like to join in signing the letter, Sig or I need to hear from you by late Tuesday afternoon. His email is saddamscribe@yahoo.com
2. Also attached is a copy of a bill drafted by Sen. Mark Dayton, D-MN, clarifying the definition of a federal employee under FOIA to make clear that the name, salary, grade, position, and employing agency are not considered privacy information and cannot be withheld from a FOIA request on that pretext. The bill is prompted by lawsuit filed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, which was refused that information this year after collecting and posting it every year since 1989. I’ve attached an AP story on the lawsuit.
I plan to draft a short letter indicating support for the language of the bill as providing “important clarification” and suggesting it will help to eliminate “misinterpretations” in the handling of FOIA requests. Let me know if your organization would like to sign that letter.
Pete Weitzel
