Your Right to Know column: Officials use digital dodges to hide records
The disturbing trend toward using digital dodges to evade Wisconsin’s Open Records Law extends far beyond the university.
Written By:
David Armiak / Center for Media and Democracy | 12:00 pm, May 14, 2021 ×
David Armiak
In March, The Washington Post reported that University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank sought to move a conversation around the COVID-19 pandemic and students returning to campus in the fall to a private portal used by presidents and chancellors of the 14 Big Ten universities.
“I would be delighted to share information,” Blank responded in an email chain begun last August by University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel, “but perhaps we can do this through the Big 10 portal, which will assure confidentiality?”
Walker, Ryan, Priebus pushed business-friendly policies. The result: an abysmal failure. By Dan Shafer - May 12th, 2021 03:47 pm //end headline wrapper ?>Get a daily rundown of the top stories on Urban Milwaukee
In 2017, the big players in the “Cheesehead Revolution” gathered at the Trump White House to celebrate the state landing the Foxconn deal. Photo via White House archives.
There was a certain inevitably to the news that the state of Wisconsin had finalized a renegotiated contract with Foxconn. This was a long time coming.
Donald Trump called it the “eighth wonder of the world.” The deal the Taiwanese manufacturing giant struck was to build one specific kind of LCD screen, and in the year between July 2017 when Wisconsin landed the deal and when work on the project officially began, Foxconn chose to build something else.
View Comments
In March, The Washington Post reported that University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank sought to move a conversation around the COVID-19 pandemic and students returning to campus in the fall to a private portal used by presidents and chancellors of the 14 Big Ten universities.
“I would be delighted to share information,” Blank responded in an email chain begun last August by University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel, “but perhaps we can do this through the Big 10 portal, which will assure confidentiality?”
Blank apologized after the story broke, but did not go so far as to say that she would provide responsive communications through the Big 10 portal to record requesters in the future.
May 3, 2021 - 10:54am
Photo credit: Abmurken
In March,
The Washington Post reported that University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank sought to move a conversation around the COVID-19 pandemic and students returning to campus in the fall to a private portal used by presidents and chancellors of the 14 Big Ten universities. I would be delighted to share information, Blank responded in an email chain begun last August by University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel, but perhaps we can do this through the Big 10 portal, which will assure confidentiality?
Blank apologized after the story broke, but did not go so far as to say that she would provide responsive communications through the Big 10 portal to record requesters in the future.