FOIA Isn't Being Used the Way You Think It Is

On the Media | Mar 31, 2017

The Freedom of Information Act, enacted in 1967 to make federal records accessible to the public, has widely been known as a means for journalists to obtain government data and demand accountability.

But a new study by data analyst Max Galka for FOIA Mapper shows that the majority of FOIA requests aren't made by journalists -- in fact, journalists only account for 7.6% of the requests. Bob talks to him about how FOIA is used by businesses, law firms, and even political party organizations to use government data for their own profit.

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