Snipped from: THE WEEKLY SPIN, JULY 25, 2007 BLOCKING THE SUNSHINE http://www.prwatch.org/node/6277
A recent study by the National Security Archive of George Washington University finds that U.S. government agencies are stalling on public requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act. Five U.S. agencies--the State Department, the C.I.A., the criminal division of the Justice Department, the Air Force and the F.B.I.--are still sitting on unanswered information requests from more than 15 years ago. "It can get pretty silly," observes the New York Times: "In 2002, the National Zoo in Washington denied a request for the medical records of Ryma the giraffe because, it said, the release would violate the animal's privacy rights." The U.S. Senate has been considering legislation that would make it harder for government agencies to dodge compliance, but the bill has been blocked from further consideration through a "secret hold" imposed by Senator Jon Kyl. SOURCE: National Security Archive The Weekly Spin features selected news summaries with links to further information about media, political spin and propaganda. It is emailed free each Wednesday to subscribers. PR Watch, Spin of the Day, the Weekly Spin and SourceWatch are projects of the Center for Media & Democracy, a nonprofit organization that offers investigative reporting on the public relations industry. We help the public recognize manipulative and misleading PR practices by exposing the activities of secretive, little-known propaganda-for-hire firms that work to control political debates and public opinion. Please send any questions or suggestions about our publications to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to the Weekly Spin, visit: http://www.prwatch.org/sub _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.isoc-ny.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
