UPDATE FROM TEXAS

While Michigan is busy making sure the kids at 7-11 and Mikky Dees are properly compensated, we’re grateful to be here in Houston helping ensure the city’s airport system keeps its offshoot enterprises transparent and that everyone involved does the right thing. Public records in Texas are much easier to obtain than in Michigan due to both better laws and a media that has simply put its foot down in many cases and let government know that it has to do its business in the open. Perhaps it is not related, but Texas is also one of the few states not to be economically sagging.
Construction is booming and this city shows few signs of any sort of downturn. Michigan truly needs some kind of body like Texas Watchdog that will work to keep government honest. In many states, philanthropists and business interests are funding watchdog groups in the best way possible; line up with the right people, hand over the means and get out of the way. This does not have to be political in any way. Transparency is an issue that rewards both sides in the best way possible; it creates an even playing field.
So who’s going to get the ball rolling in Michigan? Is there someone else who sees the need for truly non-partisan coverage of government aimed at keeping records open and is willing to bring on dedicated journalism pros to do it?

Michigan Last in Public Disclosure; Hiatus at Free Michigan

Despite passing legislation in the House regarding public disclosure of financial information for state officials, the bill, HB 4381 has stalled in the Senate. And now, a new study from The Center for Public Integrity finds our state ranks last in public disclosure for public officials.
Considering how the recession has struck the state's newspapers, it's hardly news that this has happened. The media's ability to act as watchdog has eroded considerably.
In our case, we at Free Michigan do this for free, as so many bloggers do. And now, we are taking some time and heading to Texas to work with Texas Watchdog, an esteemed group that we feel represents the future of journalism. Non-partisan coverage of anything, be it a city, issue or statehouse, is crucial. Transparency, as we've noted previously, is a somewhat blurry notion. Texas Watchdog doggedly pursues it better than anyone without even a hint of an agenda other than the truth. This is the journalist spot in which to be.
Here in Michigan, we have some troubles that we hope will be addressed in the future; a supposedly major newspaper located blocks from the statehouse with no capital presence; thinly staffed Lansing bureaus for the two Detroit papers; and several small Lansing bureaus for other media outlets in the state. Free Michigan has been embraced, it appears, primarily by audiences on the right. We take our readers where we can get them, but there is no reason that all of us - right left, center - can't agree that an open government serves the people best. When a state is in a free fall, as Michigan is, we have to look first at the leadership. At the top, that means the governor, be that leader a Republican or a Democrat. In this case, it's a Democrat. When the attorney general's office is accused of overcharging for a public records request, we simply open the records the best we can. In this case, it has been a Republican in charge of that office. Keep us on your favorites list; We'll be back in a while and will be providing updates on our work in Texas while noting developments in watchdog journalism, so please keep your eye on this page in the coming weeks.