An Oregon blogger struggles to be accepted as "accountable"

This anecdote from the city of Lake Oswego, Oregon, is reported by Kevin Hanson in a Salem Monthly site's story exploring "what constitutes professional journalism and, in Oregon, the task of being a government watchdog."

Late in 2008, the Lake Oswego City Council found themselves in the middle of defining this profession. A blogger, Mark Buntner who publishes under the pseudonym of Torrid Joe at loadedorygun.net, attempted to sit in on an executive session of the council. Because of Oregon's "sunshine" laws, most executive sessions are open to the media. According to the minutes of the meeting, however, the blogger was asked to leave. Attending the non-public meetings of council members requires what Lake Oswego's City Attorney David Powell calls a "good faith accountability" between a reporter and the city government. But if a blogger is only accountable to themselves, how can it be enforced?

Powell told the Lake Oswego City Council that "they were not trying to define media for First Amendment or legitimacy purposes, but solely for accountability, so that the City had some recourse in the event of a violation of the [executive session] policy."

J-Lab offers a sunshine guide to help citizen journalists cover government

Just released: "The Citizen Journalist's Guide to Open Government," a multimedia module from J-Lab's Knight Citizen News Network.

A press note from 1978-Pulitzer-Prizer Jan Schaffer, J-Lab's executive director, says the module was produced by Geanne Rosenberg, who is "a lawyer and the founding chair of Baruch College’s new undergraduate Department of Journalism and the Writing Professions... It includes input and video interviews from top media law experts around the country."

The guide features a unique interactive map that tells citizens how they can locate open-government information on each of the 50 state Web sites. Easy-to-find information on either the Governor’s or State Attorney General’s Web site gets a thumbs-up ranking. Hard-to-find information earns a thumbs down. Users can:

• Obtain local, state and federal government records.
• Appeal when a records request is denied.
• Take steps if they are excluded from a meeting.
• Learn what’s allowed in their state.
• Understand access to court proceedings.
• Link to more information.