EDITORS:

News organizations in Mississippi have produced a series of articles and photos examining questions about secrecy in government. The Associated Press is distributing the articles with advance dates for each story.

The Sun Herald has produced a graphic to go with the series. The logo can be downloaded at http://www.mspress.org/secrecy/secrecylogo.jpg and is available to any organization running the series.

Copy is embargoed for use in weekly MPA member newspapers before Feb. 10. For more information, contact executive director Layne Bruce, 601-981-3060, or lbruce@mspress.org

Here's what the series will cover:

For use Sunday, Feb. 10, or thereafter:
SECRECY-MAINBAR
JACKSON — Open access to public meetings and public records is essential to government accountability, but Mississippi's laws are full of exemptions that perpetuate a culture of secrecy. Legislation is being filed this year to try to tighten some of the exemptions and to give people a better chance to see the workings of their local and state governments _ the governments that taxpayers support with their hard-earned dollars. By Emily Wagster Pettus of The Associated Press and Dan Davis of the Hattiesburg American.
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SECRECY-ANALYSIS
GULFPORT — The business of government is a costly enterprise, and its stockholders, the people of Mississippi, must feed the treasury year after year to keep the state, counties, towns and cities afloat. Last year, Mississippi taxpayers ponied up billions to complete their part of the social contract that keeps democracy of, for, and by the people _ and the people's pocketbook _ alive. But, in what might be considered a not-so-kind twist to the partnership of people and politicians, those who pass the laws have constantly chosen to limit the information that is shared with the very people who elect them and fund their activities. At every turn, you will discover where state lawmakers have tightened the flow of information about government that the electorate needs to make informed decisions. By Stan Tiner of the Sun Herald.

For use Monday, Feb. 11, or thereafter:
SECRECY-CURRENT LAW
VICKSBURG — Put 10 Mississippi government officials or commission appointees in a room and it would be interesting to hear their answers to a quiz on what constitutes a "personnel matter," probably the most often invoked exception to state's open meetings act. For instance, if a city council meets to set police department salaries, is that a proper subject for a closed session? If a county board meets to write a new job description for road manager, is that a personnel matter under the code? The answer to both is no. By Charlie Mitchell of The Vicksburg Post.
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With
Secrecy-Current Law-Glance.

SECRECY-ENFORCEMENT
TUPELO _ If someone steals your car in Mississippi, you call the police. If someone defrauds you, you call the attorney general. But if someone denies you access to public records, no taxpayer-funded agency will help you. Instead, you hire an attorney. In Mississippi, a state with a long history of government secrecy, it can be difficult, expensive, time consuming _ and sometimes an all but impossible _ to know what government leaders are up to and what special interests pull their strings. That's because enforcement of the state's Public Records Act and Open Meetings Act falls not on the shoulders of the state, but on those of the public itself. By Emily Le Coz of the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal and Geoff Pender of the Sun Herald.
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With
Secrecy-Enforcement-Glance.

For use Tuesday, Feb. 12, or thereafter:
SECRECY-CAMPAIGN FINANCE
GULFPORT _ In many states, basic computer technology _ database programs such as those found in most every office or classroom in America _ is providing voters easy access to candidates' campaign finance information. But not in Mississippi. By Geoff Pender of the Sun Herald.
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With
Secrecy-Campaign Finance-Glance

SECRECY-HIDDEN FUNDING
GULFPORT _ Republican Mike Chaney said he spent around $1 million to win the Mississippi insurance commissioner's race in 2007. "It's obscene to spend that much money on an election for a job that pays less than $100,000 a year," Chaney said, "and you try to be impartial and you know much of the money comes from the business side." But it's not always easy to find out where candidates get their campaign money. Even they have difficulty tracking the funds. By Anita Lee of the Sun Herald.
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With
Secrecy-Hidden Funding-Glance

For use Wednesday, Feb. 13, or thereafter:
SECRECY-CRIME STATISTICS
JACKSON _ In a meeting with reporters in December, new Jackson Police Chief Malcolm McMillin made crystal clear his policy toward providing police information to media. "We're not going to have any (crud) over here about what you are entitled to," he said. "I've had good media relations for 16 years and I'm not going to change that now." By Chris Joyner of The Clarion-Ledger.
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SECRECY-INVESTIGATIVE RECORDS
TUPELO _ When Tremont resident Paula Kennedy and her husband Harold tried to access the file on their son Brian's 2004 murder, the couple was denied. Although the confessed assailant committed suicide and investigators closed the case, the Kennedys were told state law prohibits their access to their son's murder record. The code exempts information gathered for a criminal investigation from the state's public records law. By Emily Le Coz of the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.
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SECRECY-JAILHOUSE BEATING
GULFPORT _ An inmate's fatal beating at the Harrison County jail in 2006 raised questions the Sun Herald believed public records could help answer. The newspaper filed a series of public-records requests with the Sheriff's Department, but the agency denied most of the requests, claiming the documents were not public records because they were part of a criminal investigation. By Robin Fitzgerald of the Sun Herald.
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For use Thursday, Feb. 14, or thereafter:
SECRECY-PUBLIC-PRIVATE
TUPELO _ Just because an organization "looks" like it's a public agency, it may not be. And if it isn't a public agency, it's not obligated to be open in any way. That's the way Mississippi's laws read as they address issues of open meetings and open records. By Patsy Brumfield of the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal and Julie Finley of the Natchez Democrat.

SECRECY-SPORTS-ANALYSIS
JACKSON _ When Houston Nutt was introduced as the new University of Mississippi football coach on Nov. 28, there were certainly reasons for some to be surprised. Less than a week after firing Ed Orgeron, Ole Miss had hired a guy who only days before had been coaching a rival school, Arkansas. And Ole Miss would pay Nutt $1.7 million for his first year, nearly double what Orgeron made, and a minimum of $7.4 million over the life of a four-year contract. That was quite an upgrade for Ole Miss, which has one of the smallest athletic budgets in what is the most competitive league in the country, the Southeastern Conference. But the real stunner was that Ole Miss actually announced what it would be paying Nutt. For years, Ole Miss and Mississippi State athletic officials have declined to give The Clarion-Ledger complete compensation information for its coaches, specifically the supplemental income provided by the Bulldog Foundation at Mississippi State and the UMAA Foundation at Ole Miss. By Rusty Hampton of The Clarion-Ledger.
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For use Friday, Feb. 15, or thereafter:
SECRECY-SEEKING OPENNESS
JACKSON _ Many towns have a Bob Bryant, and those that don't would do well to get one.

For the past several years, Bryant has been the open-government advocate for Crenshaw, a Delta city of about 900. "He's a relentless sort of guy," said John Howell, publisher of The Panolian, the local newspaper that covers Crenshaw politics. "He's a real thorn in their side." By Chris Joyner of The Clarion-Ledger.
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SECRECY-MEETINGS
GULFPORT _ The Mississippi Supreme Court has made it clear that all deliberations of government boards are meant to be aired in public unless specifically exempted. Personnel matters and pending litigation are exemptions to the state Open Meetings law most often used by public bodies to meet behind closed doors. But the court has ruled that those exemptions are too vague to suffice. People attending the meeting have the right to stand and object unless board members are more specific about their reasons for closing a meeting. By Anita Lee of the Sun Herald.

SECRECY-RECORDS
MCCOMB _ Want to know if someone's been arrested? If they're getting married or have filed for divorce? How about how much money your town plans to spend this year on those pesky potholes? Under state law, it shouldn't be that hard to find out. By Matt Williamson of the Enterprise-Journal.

For use Saturday, Feb. 16, or thereafter:
SECRECY-USING FOIA
OXFORD _ Rarely do we think much about the sources of information swirling around us in the battle to sway people to accept a certain point of view on social issues and public policies. The massive public relations machinery of government, spin doctors on talk shows and in interviews, speeches of government officials and bloggers bombard the public with partisan positions on issues. At the state and local level, we're also confronted with rhetoric and spin and left to wonder what is fact and what is simply opinion? Where does the truth lie? How do we sift through the verbiage to find the nuggets of truth? By Jeanni Atkins of the Mississippi Center for Freedom of Information.

With Secrecy-Other States.

For use Sunday, Feb. 17, or thereafter:
SECRECY-REMEDIES-ANALYSIS
UNDATED _ State law makes it sound like citizens should be able to be see and hear pretty much everything there is to know about public business, doesn't it? Well, that's not the way it is in practice. Indeed, there's a lot the taxpayers are not allowed to know and there's more that the law says they should know, but the average citizen can't afford to "fight City Hall" as the system now requires a court fight to enforce the law. By Leonard Van Slyke of the Mississippi Center for Freedom of Information.
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SECRECY-DEFENDING CONFIDENTIALITY
GREENWOOD _ A man calls the police after he thinks he hears a woman screaming next door. He tells the dispatcher he thinks his neighbor's wife is being beaten. Police show up to find children simply roughhousing and screaming in the backyard, but by law they file an incident report. The local newspaper obtains the report, runs a story about the incident and the man at the house gets falsely accused of being a wife-beater by his community. A major manufacturer is planning to build a new facility in an economically depressed region. The region's newspaper reports the possibility, and soon local politicians are bombarding the company with promises and requests. The manufacturer _ which could have brought 400 jobs to the area _ decides to move to another state where it is better able to control the flow of information. These are just two examples that defenders of exemptions in Mississippi's sunshine laws cite as reasons to limit public access to some information. By William Browning of The Greenwood Commonwealth.
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