Tennessee Coalition for Open Government Archives - Page 19 of 21

3 Aug, 2015

TCOG urges Tennessee Supreme Court to allow journalists to use electronic tools in courtrooms

By Deborah Fisher|2015-08-18T07:15:09-05:00August 3, 2015|Categories: Open Courts, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: courtroom access, courts, Rule 30|0 Comments

PRESS RELEASE For immediate release Aug. 3, 2015 Contacts: Lucian T. Pera, vice president, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government (901) 524-5278, [email protected] Deborah Fisher, executive director, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government (615) 602-4080, [email protected] NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government has filed comments with the Tennessee Supreme Court, urging it to change its proposed revision of Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 30 so that journalists can use electronic tools in courtrooms, while still allowing for regulation of video or audio recordings. Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 30 was adopted in 1996 to govern the use of cameras in the courtroom by media. In general, the rule spells out guidelines designed [...]

24 Apr, 2015

TCOG receives Intellectual Freedom Award from Tennessee librarians

By Deborah Fisher|2020-11-19T12:20:49-06:00April 24, 2015|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: TCOG news|1 Comment

Anthony Prince with the Tennessee Library Association presents TCOG Executive Director Deborah Fisher with TLA's Intellectual Freedom Award at TLA's 2015 conference in Memphis. The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government has been awarded the Intellectual Freedom Award from the Tennessee Library Association. The award recognizes the contribution of an individual or group who has actively promoted intellectual freedom in Tennessee. Anthony Prince, a TLA board director and the cataloging manager for Brown-Daniel Library at Tennessee State University, presented the award Thursday at the TLA's annual conference in Memphis. "Intellectual freedom -- the right to seek, receive, hold, and disseminate information from all points of view without restriction -- [...]

23 Mar, 2015

NFOIC and SPJ combine war chests to fight for Freedom of Information

By Deborah Fisher|2015-03-23T13:23:48-05:00March 23, 2015|Categories: public records lawsuits Tennessee, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: litigation, NFOIC, SPJ, TCOG news|0 Comments

Joint press release from SPJ-NFOIC. (TCOG is a member of NFOIC): INDIANAPOLIS/Jefferson City - The Society of Professional Journalists and the National Freedom of Information Coalition are joining forces - and legal war chests - to help citizens and journalists fight for public records. The two groups will band together to help litigants who sue for access to government information. The NFOIC can provide court fees and SPJ help for attorney fees. Both organizations also will use their combined national networks of journalists and citizens to apply public pressure to government agencies that flaunt the law. "This is such an exciting collaborative project, one that will lend significant weight to [...]

25 Feb, 2015

Kent Flanagan, former TCOG leader, dies

By Deborah Fisher|2015-02-26T04:53:21-06:00February 25, 2015|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: TCOG board|0 Comments

By MICHELLE WILLIAMS, Associated Press Kent Flanagan NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Kent Flanagan, a longtime journalist and open government advocate who spent 21 years as Tennessee's bureau chief for The Associated Press, died Wednesday. He was 69. Flanagan's wife, Janet, said he died at home after a long illness. He had been talking and joking with his brother just before he died, she said. The couple recently marked their 42nd wedding anniversary, she said. The two met while Flanagan was stationed in Germany with the Army as a public information officer. After a stint in Vietnam, Flanagan completed his four years of military service, and the couple married [...]

31 Jan, 2015

Tennessee Press Association convention to feature open government issues

By Deborah Fisher|2015-01-31T07:30:05-06:00January 31, 2015|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: TCOG news, Tennessee Press Association|0 Comments

From Associated Press: The Associated Press and the Tennessee Press Association will hold their annual Newsmakers Session Thursday, Feb. 5, at the Doubletree Nashville, 315 Fourth Ave. North, downtown Nashville. The event is part of the TPA's annual winter convention. The AP session starts at 8:30 a.m. in Salon E and concludes about 11:45 a.m. It's open to all media organizations and focuses on public policy issues as the General Assembly starts its work this session. Here's the lineup: 9 a.m., New polling about Medicaid expansion and other issues by Middle Tennessee State University pollster Jason Reineke 9:30 a.m., Tennessee GOP Chairman Chris Devaney discusses politics headed into a presidential [...]