Media Monitor: May 31

By Paul Schmelzer
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 9:55 am

Anonymous senator blocks open-government vote [UPDATED 3 P.M.]: Despite being passed by the U.S. House of Representatives by an overwhelming majority and receiving Senate Judiciary Committee approval, a bill promoting government transparency has been barred from getting a floor vote, thanks to an anonymous senator. The unnamed legislator — a Republican, according to Democratic Sen. Patrick of Vermont, who consponsored the bill — put a secret hold on the Open Government Act, which can be done without revealing the senator’s identity or a rationale.

The bill sought to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act and speed up the processing of FOIA requests. Now, journalists and bloggers are trying to unmask the senator. Said Leahy: “It is both unfortunate and ironic that this bipartisan bill, which promotes sunshine and openness in our government, is being hindered by a secret and anonymous hold.”

The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) is leading a crowdsourcing campaign to identify the senator. So far the effort has identified 85 senators who did not place the block. Among them is Sen. Norm Coleman.

Update: The Associated Press reports that Sen. Jon Kyl, a Republican from Arizona, placed the block because “the Justice Department is concerned that it could force them to reveal sensitive information.” The SPJ has dubbed Kyl “Senator Secrecy.”

After free speech battle, student editor decides not to study journalism: In January, the St. Francis (Minn.) High School newspaper planned to run a front-page photo, along with a review, of a Cold War-era play the school had staged. The image showed the simulated ripping of an American flag. When the school principal banned the photo, the paper and its editor, Eric Sheforgen, were drawn into the spotlight, written up by newspapers nationwide and championed by First Amendment organizations. The Star Tribune’s Eric Hanson profiles Sheforgen and finds he’s not a rabble-rouser. He’s a nearly straight-A student, the youth representative to the school board, and the organizer of benefits and letter-writing campaigns for soldiers stationed in Iraq. The paper’s adviser said Sheforgen “truly has a heightened sense of ethics.” After graduation next week, he’ll attend St. Olaf College in Northfield, but his major has changed to international business.

“In the beginning of the year I really was into journalism,” he said. “But I’ve kind of gotten worn out through all this stuff.”