The John Locke Foundation’s unveiling of its new NCTransparency.com Web site attracted print and broadcast media attention in the past week. The News & Observer printed stories related to NCTransparency.com three days in a row. First, the site appeared in a “Triangle Politics” feature focusing on transparency in the Apex town government. Next, the N&O‘s weekend “Best of the Blogs” segment highlighted an education-related blog post focusing on Wake County schools’ online transparency efforts. That item quoted Education Policy Analyst Terry Stoops. On the third day, “Under The Dome” featured the new Web site and quoted Fiscal Policy Analyst Joseph Coletti. The N&O’s “Insider” service also highlighted NCTransparency.com. (The conservative John Locke Foundation has begun a Web site grading state agencies, local governments and school boards on their transparency. The best grade for a state agency: the Department of Public Instruction, with a C. All other state agencies get D’s and F’s. A handful of local governments and school boards received B’s. The grading is based on whether a government unit’s public documents — from budgets to vendor spending to the salaries of employees — are posted on the Internet. As many as 24 different items are considered. Joe Coletti, an analyst with the Locke Foundation, said the intent is to encourage government units to make more information available over the Internet.) Raleigh’s top newspaper was not alone among the state’s major print publications in discussing the new site. The Greensboro News & Record‘s editor wrote a blog post suggesting that the JLF site was too kind in its assessment of transparency efforts among Guilford County government agencies. The newspaper followed up with an editorial featuring the same theme. Meanwhile, the Beaufort Observer also used the new Web site to examine the availability of local government information. Among broadcast outlets, WTVD ran a brief story mentioning the new site. (Wake County schools are getting good marks tonight for their transparency. The John Locke Foundation gave the district a “B” in its new report card on transparency among governmental entities. Criteria included online accessibility of information from schools, state agencies, and cities and towns. Out of 115 school districts, Wake was the only one to receive a “B” from the conservative watchdog group.) WNCN interviewed Coletti for a story focusing on Apex’s D grade. (WNCN’s MyNC.com Web site also featured an article about the new Web site’s development.) Coletti also earned some air time with Lockwood Phillips in an interview about online government transparency for the “Viewpoints Radio” program on WTKF.
