Communications Law Commons^™

Protecting The Watchdog: Using The Freedom Of Information Act To Preference The Press, Erin C. Carroll

Utah Law Review

Until the modern-day press can determine how to profit from investigative journalism and begin to provide the kind of accountability reporting traditionally practiced by newspaper reporters, it needs a legal boost. Providing legal preferences for the press is nothing new, but it has not been done meaningfully for too long. Preferences that account for an unrelenting news cycle and the possibilities for instantaneous distribution of the news are needed.

FOIA is a logical place to start. Its goal is the promotion of transparency and democracy. But it too has long faltered in achieving this goal and, by many measures, is …