SPJ Is Standing Up For Public Records Reform

By Maria Santora 1/27/2016
It was twenty-six degrees in Massachusetts but that didn’t stop the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) from fighting for change.

SPJ and other members of the media rallied outside the State House on January 21st in hopes of bringing awareness to and inspiring change and reform of the state public records law.

SPJ’s goal for the rally was to bring light to what it believes is the lack of transparency between journalists and state agencies and public safety departments. Bill Marcus, an SPJ Member passionately spoke to the public about what the media needs in the new bill.

“We are looking basically for four things. We are looking for a time certain to get records, thirty days. We are looking for attorneys’ fees when we win a suit…we don’t want a circuitous appeals process… [and} we don’t want an information tax.”

Marcus and other members of SPJ not only outlined these needs, but also instilled a call to action from the public.

“We are looking for you to be proactive as a result of this and to speak to your state senator. Ask them to make sure that this a good bill that comes out of the state legislature.”

The vote is projected to take place in February. Marcus and other members of SPJ will be reaching out to Sen. Michel Barrett until then to advocate for these changes.

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