April 2016 Deadline Club Panel Debate at CUNY + CSPAN Taping

Prying Minds Want [Need] To Know: Unlocking Government Records –Wednesday, April 27, 6:30-8:30p.m.

While trumpeting openness, the Obama Administration has set a record for secretiveness, denying more public records requests than ever before. Yet without the Freedom of Information Act passed 50 years ago, journalists may never have uncovered the real story on torture of post-9/11 detainees, CIA and FBI misconduct, Medicare fraud, and much more. In this Deadline Club panel, top national and local investigative and data reporters will reveal their strategies for fighting and winning public records battles. We’ll also be going on television with C-SPAN to shine a light on dark corners of government secrecy that you, too, can crack with FOIA know-how.

Our panelists include: Andrew Lehren, Pulitzer Prize team-winning New York Times reporter, Justin Elliott, reporter with ProPublica who recently exposed questionable spending at the Red Cross, Tom Robbins,investigative journalist in residence at CUNY J-School and legendary former Village Voice and Daily News reporter of urban corruption; Jessica Huseman, reporter with the Columbia University Journalism school’s Teacher Project specializing in education. The panel will be moderated by Benjamin Lesser, Thomson Reuters projects reporter and award-winning data journalist.

At a Glance:

• What: Prying Minds Want [Need] to Know: Unlocking Government Records
• When: Wednesday, April 27, 2016. Reception at 6:30 p.m, panel begins 7:00 p.m.
• Where: The CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, 219 W. 40th Street
• RSVP: Students and Club members free. Tickets $10 for others. Please register HERE.