Press battles for access to information continued on several fronts in April. Reporters found themselves barred from covering the Guantanamo hunger strike. The military said the press could expect to tour the prison no sooner than May 6. (Huffington Post, April 5, 2013, by Ryan J. Reilly)
Exxon/Mobile got into the act by throwing out journalists who were covering an oil spill in an Arkansas suburban community. Exxon threatened to arrest reporters found on the site and expelled 10 journalists on a tour with the state Attorney General Dustin McDaniel. (Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, April 9, 2013, by Lilly Chapa.
The American Civil Liberties Union is appealing a federal judge’s ruling that allows the Obama administration to continue to stonewall the legal basis for its drone killing operation including the killings of U.S. citizens. (Wired, April 15, 2013, by David Kravets)
There were some positives for the month. WikiLeaks released 1.7 million diplomatic records from 1973 to 1976, many from archives of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger documenting U.S. relations with fascist dictatorships including those in Spain and Greece. WikiLeaks obtained the records from National Archives and Records Administration and organized them into a searchable database. (The Verge, April 8, 2013, by Sam Byford)
The District of Columbia U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that citizens after information using the Freedom of Information Act can immediately appeal a denied or unanswered request. The ruling said that federal agencies must answer a request 20 days after receiving it. (The Jurist, April 7, 2013, by Cynthia Miley) -db