michigan FOIA lAW

Michigan FOIA Law Work For You

To better understand what I mean by this let me define the FOIA short for The Michigan Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

“This act provides all persons except those incarcerated in correctional facilities with access to public records. Requests to inspect or receive the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) records must be in writing and must describe the requested records with enough detail that the Department can identify them” According to DHS site. you can request mostly any kind of document, for example, these are some document people need information can be found on this site called Muckrock site

Being biased sure doesn’t pay off

Ethics really does play a big role in one’s everyday communications and overall viewpoints in life.

When journaling or reporting on topics and issues, one’s unique writing skills will be influenced by one’s ethics as well. This is why being non-biased really does play a major part in getting the correct information because facts are a must.(free art from Google library)

Being non-biased while reporting allows the writer to focus more on facts than feelings; now don’t get me wrong, I personally believe all stories should have a sense of feeling, but it can also hinder a writers viewpoint. I, myself as a writer, have fallen victim to writing under emotions toward a story which needed more attention on the facts than the overall issue at hand. When reporting, one can easily hinder their own story by not paying attention to being a non-bias and letting their own feeling affect the fact.

I watched a video on how “Jouranalists Minimize their own Bias,” and i found it to be very helpful because it touched on fact checking, credibility and the importance of not being bias when writing.

The FOIA grants the people public access

The Freedom Of Information Act, (FOIA) was established in 1967, which helped to ensure public access of federal, state or local governments records that are needed for use. All requested information collected on each agency by the individual interested must then be submitted to the FOIA once received, this way there’s a public database full of records and information for all to access.

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Without the FOIA being established, it would make it very difficult to gather needed information and documentation on specific important issues from governmental agencies like the FDA, DEA, and other agencies like the ACLU, which is an agency that focuses on protecting individual rights like helping to protect young girls and women by reporting sexual assault and harassment in specific locations under the law.(free Google picture art)

Federal agencies must disclose all information requested under the FOIA, and I find this to be very interesting to know along with the fact that there’s only nine known exemptions given which protects more than one hundred company privacy laws.

Got facts?

Verification is essential in journalism. Verification is the process of checking facts to determine if they are accurate or not. Journalists need to set verification on the top of their revision-to-do-list because it is not only a large part of ethics but it is also a large part of their careers.

It takes a lot to build a journalist’s credibility but it only takes one false statement to destroy it too. The audience must learn to trust this writer, from the first story they write to their 100th one. When you lose the trust you had between and your readers, it deteriorates your credibility.

This can happen when you don’t verify facts in your story. Verification before it all takes place sounds pretty good then, right?

My data story on post graduate success covering multiple colleges and alumni’s salaries had verification behind it. For example, “University of Pennsylvania are close behind in which alumni are earning more than $163,000,” is an important fact I brought up in my story because it allows comparison of Ivy League graduates to regular university graduates. In order to include this fact in my story, I had to make sure that multiple sources were stating the same information. As you could probably tell, it was a fact that was supported by more than one reliable source so I added it in.

Got facts? Because with verification you will make sure you do!

What’s fair- ethics drive journalism

SPJ included a video of journalists in one of their articles who spoke on the topic of ethics where one of them mentioned that though journalists are trying to remain neutral, they do in reality have opinions. However, accuracy is more important and is a priority above all else, one journalist simply says it’s “what’s fair.”

SPJ includes a video in their article on what journalists think about bias.

As a reporter, a journalist tries to get every perspective. One source cannot run a story because it is begging for bias. Sources must be verified and reporters do this by going to more than one source to check and balance their stories. One journalists puts it like this; If a mother had a child who did something wrong and said that that same child was a straight A student and never got into any trouble with the law, one can’t quickly take her word for it. Rather, it’s important to go to the child’s school and police department to check out those sources as well. It might not be that the parent is lying, yet she may be overcome with grief and feel as if she has to prove her child is pure, just like most parents think their children are.

SPJ gives examples of different articles and how they fit ethical journalism.

SPJ puts it clearly: “SPJ Code of Ethics- seek truth and report it, act independently, minimize harm, and be accountable and transparent.”