When President Lyndon Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in 1966, he did so with little fanfare and in the face of an unhappy federal bureaucracy. Today, the FOIA is considered one of the most heavily used methods for citizens to get information about their government. In Pennsylvania, a “worst to pretty good” change took place with the 2008 passage of a much-improved right-to-know law on public access to government records. Journalists often use these laws in digging out stories, but everyday citizens rely on them much more. Learn how these laws work (and don’t work) for you.

Instructor: John Dillon is a professor emeritus in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State, where he taught from 2007 to 2017 and was the Norman Eberly Professor of Practice in Journalism. He also served for six years on the Daily Collegian board of directors, including two terms as president. Before coming to Penn State, he worked at the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia for 32 years. His jobs included copy editor, reporter, projects editor, and in his last 12 years, deputy managing editor.