But instead of reporting on these events, The Public’s Radio told a different tale, reporting uncritically and at length on a new proposed “anti-racism” policy adopted by the district, portraying Solas and the Goldwater Institute as impediments to that policy and grossly mischaracterizing the Institute’s work to promote academic transparency and school choice. Their journalistic malpractice wasn’t for lack of information: Goldwater Director of National Litigation Jon Riches gave an extensive interview to the article’s author, Alex Nunes, who chose to quote neither from Solas nor from Riches.
One would think a journalist might understand better than most the importance of public records requests to enable the public to keep account of what its government is up to. Public records laws are a crucial tool to help reporters—and citizen activists—uncover truths about their governments, whether they be details about taxpayer-funded expenditures or information about what children are learning in public school classrooms.
Instead, Nunes depicted Solas as a nuisance whose requests imposed a “burden” on local government employees, while also quoting a “racial justice” advocate who attacked Solas’ motives. This framing portrays the government as an entity that should selectively choose what public records should be made available based on the subject of the request or the motivations of the requester, neither of which is an appropriate basis under the law.