Sunshine Fest 2026
March 15-17, 2025 • Washington, D.C.
Handouts and Supplemental Materials
Plenary: Promoting transparency
Welcome remarks by Johns Hopkins Interim Dean Douglas Mao, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Dean Hub Brown, Brechner FOI Project Director David Cuillier, and Berl Brechner, whose family’s endowments allow Sunshine Fest to happen. Then we discuss how to engage the public, lawmakers and donors in FOI. Presenters will discuss effective messaging for promoting freedom of information, educating the public, and welcoming those often left out.
Document Divide study showing lack of diversity in the FOI community [PDF]
Fees discourage average requesters [PDF]
Tale of two requesters study [PDF]
Open The Government 2018 Messaging Toolkit [PDF]
University of Florida messaging study slides [PDF]
Knight Foundation slides [PDF]
UK guide for educators on right to environmental information [park education site]
John Cusack: Time to drop paywalls for FOIA reporting [YouTube]
Carnage: DOGE, populism, and backslide
A discussion about the impact of political forces on freedom of information, including DOGE purges, populist regimes around the world, and trickle down to the states – and how to reverse the tide. Session to include a Spanish translator, so attendees may ask questions in Spanish if they wish.
Mexico commission study: Transparency Guardians [PDF]
Lessons From the Dissolution of Mexico’s Information Commission [PDF]
Vexing dilemma
How do we mitigate the harm of unduly burdensome requests on agencies without restricting the flow of information? Solutions will be laid out from a two-year study, and then audience members will get to vote on the best ones and suggest others. We also learn from the UK – one of the first countries to address vexatious requests by statute.
Examples of how UK applies law to vexatious requests [Link UK Info Commissioner]
Court transparency
Court records are supposed to be public. But what do we mean when we say “court records” anyway? Hear from reporters, lawyers and advocates about the state of judicial transparency and what we can do to open up the courts — both state and federal.
Proposed bill text: A Judicial Open Records Act [PDF]
Research revelations
Top research in freedom of information is presented, shedding light on the landscape and prompting more questions to be studied. Includes winners of the NFOIC FOI research competition and the Brechner Journal of Civic Information research competition.
Data Deserts and the Duty to Document [PDF]
How Pattern or Practice Claims Can Clear a Path for Structural FOIA Reform [PDF]
FOIA’s Future: Agentic AI’s Potential to Transform the FOIA Requester eXperience [PDF]
FOIA Hall of Fame lunch
Grab a boxed lunch in Room 822 (going through Room 824) and eat where you like. National FOIA Hall of Fame 2026 inductees will be honored in Room 820, main seating area. NFOIC coalition leaders will meet in 824, next door, for a members meeting.
Hall of Fame inductees, bios, and video [Link]
FOI journalism
Journalists who cover freedom of information provide suggestions for how news organizations can better explain government transparency and empower the public.
Your Right to Know [Amazon.com]
A visual guide on how to FOIA [PDF]
‘Disclosure’: A New Podcast About the Fight for Government Records [Bloomberg.com]
Some of the best news stories start with a public records request [Poynter.org]
Funding FOI
Freedom of information laws grease the nation’s economic machine. How can civil society and commercial information providers work together to advance their mutual interests?
Spreadsheet of funders in the journalism/FOI world [Link]
Media Impact Funders report on building infrastructure [Link]
Commercial partnerships
Freedom of information laws grease the nation’s economic machine. How can civil society and commercial information providers work together to advance their mutual interests?
Slide deck from Richard Varn on ID theft and redaction [PDF]
State of access on personal identifiers [PDF]
Data brokers, data providers, public records, and regulation: Finding the right balance [PDF]
Enhancing security for public employees [PDF]
Transparency Tool Time
Showcase of digital tools, websites and other resources geared toward improving the public records process, for requesters and agencies alike. Includes Adam Marshall’s AI-based RAG tool to find documents. Hang around afterward in the room and talk with vendors one-on-one – until 2:45 p.m.
BillTrack50 presentation [PPT]
Litigation, past and future
Attorneys recap major decisions affecting freedom of information at the state, federal and global levels, and where it could go in the future.
January 6, 2021: Saving the Truth from the Whitewash [medialaw.org]
Open data
Advances in affirmative disclosure. Why wait for a request? Post it online first! And what happens when certain regimes start taking it back down?
About the UCSF-JHU Opioid Industry Document Archive [PDF]
Data Rescue Project slides [PDF]
Plenary: FOI champions
We hear from dedicated requesters who improved their communities through public record laws. Be prepared to be inspired and assured that freedom of information does indeed matter!
Disappearing Data Tip sheet 2026 [PDF]
Backroom Deals in Our Backyards: How Government Secrecy Harms Our Communities and the Local Heroes Fighting Back [Amazon] [Bookshelf.org]
Illinois student wins 2025 FOI Award for exposing safety issues for student-athletes [splc.org]
Town Sues Senior Citizen for Filing Too Many Public Record Requests [nbcnewyork.com]
First Amendment advocate to receive award for Right-to-Know work [unionleader.com]
Some of the best news stories start with a public records request [poynter.org]
Criminalizing FOI
We hear from dedicated requesters who improved their communities through public record laws. Be prepared to be inspired and assured that freedom of information does indeed matter!
Criminalizing FOI Session Links [PDF]
Journalist speaks out after attempt to silence him with a restraining order [freedom.press]
Tampa fire chief ordered police called on a local journalist asking for records [tampabay.com]
When Truth Becomes A Crime: Inside The Campaign To Silence WikkiTimes [crossriverwatch.com]
Immigration secrecy
The state of transparency in the U.S. immigration system.
Immigration panel slide deck [PDF]
NFOIC lunch meeting: Fundraising tips
Some great handouts and tips from Kimberly Spencer, Colorado Media Project, on developing positive relationships with funders.
Fundraising tips QR code to shared folder [PDF]
Plenary: Future of FOI and Big Ideas
An all-attendee session to focus on big ideas for the next 60 years of freedom of information at the state, federal and global levels. Streamed live and posted at the Sunshine Fest website and on YouTube by early April. No food or drink allowed in theater.
Big ideas crowdsourcing list [PDF]
Advice for the advisers
Members of the federal FOIA Advisory Committee present their latest recommendations and ask the audience for feedback. On the right track, or off the rails?
Advice for the advisers PowerPoint slides [PDF]
Discussion draft: Recommendation xx: Make the FOIA Advisory Committee a Non-Discretionary FAC [PDF]