crash course. tonight, controlling the message. candidate obama in 2008 promised to usher in a new era of transparency in his administration. >> part of what we're going to do is create transparency in how government works. >> one of the things i want to do is create more transparency and accountability in the system. >> on his first full day in office, president obama sent out a widely publicized memo to government agencies regarding his views on the freedom of information act. a collection of laws that exist to ensure that the public can gain access to public documents. he wrote, quote, all agencies should adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure in order to renew their commitment to the principles abiembodied in te law and as part of new financial reform bill the securities and exchange commission is virtually exempt from the access to information