Blog
ASNE backs Tribune Company’s pursuit of educational records
- By: ASNE staff
- On: 09/01/2011 16:08:00
- In: Freedom of the press
ASNE joined an amicus brief filed earlier this month in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in support of Tribune Company's request to the University of Illinois Board of Trustees for records relating to a “secret admissions program” benefiting those with political or financial connections.
ASNE joined an amicus brief an amicus brief filed earlier this month in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in support of Tribune Company's request to the University of Illinois Board of Trustees for records relating to a “secret admissions program” benefiting those with political or financial connections.The university — in what the media organizations that signed onto the brief consider to be an exceptionally broad overreach — claims the documents constitute “educational records,” the release of which are prevented by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The case is emblematic of an ongoing problem that ASNE has been working with several other organizations to reduce: The eagerness of educational institutions to invoke FERPA to cover up embarrassing information or outright indiscretions.