Following sweeping changes to access to police records, California legislators remain focused on reforming the state’s public records law. This time around, however, environmental groups, scientists, and transparency activists are up in arms against a new bill that’s looking to limit the scope of what researchers at higher-education institutions can and cannot release.

An additional 57 pages of Federal Bureau of Investigation documents shed more light on the FBI’s 1976 investigation into The Village Voice and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press regarding the publication of the classified and censored Pike Committee report. The documents reveal details of how the Bureau approaches espionage investigations of news outlets and journalism organizations.

The new year is looking a lot brighter for public records requesters in search of legal help. Last week, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press announced their new and improved state open records guides, which give an easy-to-read overview of state public records law.

Last Friday, MuckRock’s Sam Whitmore Media Survey Fellow Jessie Gomez joined us for our weekly Friday FOIA Chat on MuckRock’s Slack Channel. Gomez is currently working on building FOIA resources for researchers and journalists, and one of the problems she is looking to tackle is the complicated, varying, and often baseless FOIA fees. Here’s some strategies that came out of the conversation.

Adam Marshall recently joined us to talk about government surveillance and answer common questions that can stump FOIA requesters. Find out what you missed and details on Friday’s upcoming FOIA chat.