Tim Nickens - Public Record

Who knew so many types of records are available for the public. Editorial page editor, Tim Nickens briefed class on why public records are public and what determines whether or not a document is public. An important concept to understand when evaluating why we examine public records is that when a document becomes public, whether it's notes or a recording, they help keep a checks and balance system, particularly between public money and elected officials actions. What's interesting is the definition of a public meeting varies. In the state of Florida, if more than two people converse about legislative action, the meeting is deemed public, although it's loosely regulated. In numerous other states, a third party must be present to qualify a meeting a public. Also, since the state of Florida has had quite aggressive newspapers from the 60’s and 70’s, enlightened governors and interesting secret cases, more and more public records have been opened up with the likelihood of this tread to continuing Technology has even altered the way public documents work. Texts and emails are public, if they contain public affairs problems, however, since there is no paper-trail or electric record kept for IM's and BlackBerry's, they are categorized as non-public.

Looking to provide reporter's assistance, Nickens has become a trustee of the First Amendment Foundation, which helps reporters cover the costs of court case records. Also, Nickens and his staff developed a claims database, Politifact, providing an objective source of information using public record. Politifact is an organized, disciplined way to analyze claims made my politicians and from what we were told, many news outlets will be providing access across the country to sites similar to Politifact. The short lecture on public record was quite interesting, especially learning what is and is not public, and how technology is evolving the way we source documents.