About the series
Open & Shut, the Arizona public records access project, is the result of a six-month effort by media organizations around Arizona.
Organized by Associated Press Managing Editors of Arizona, the audit's goal was to find out how a citizen would be treated when testing the key provision of Arizona's Public Records Law: "Public records and other matters in the custody of any officer shall be open to inspection by any person at all times during office hours."
Nineteen media organizations and the journalism schools at Arizona State University and the University of Arizona teamed up to conduct the audit.
Dozens of journalists and journalism students spent the week of Oct. 22 requesting documents from Nogales to Page, from Clifton to Bullhead City, from Yuma to St. Johns. In all, 187 agencies were audited.
ORGANIZATIONS
INVOLVED
This three-day series, "Open and Shut," was published simultaneously in newspapers across Arizona. It is the work of the following organizations.
* Associated Press Managing Editors of Arizona
* The Associated Press (Steve Elliott, chief of bureau in Phoenix)
* Arizona Daily Star (Dennis Joyce, assistant managing editor)
* The Arizona Republic (John D'Anna, deputy managing editor)
* Tucson Citizen (Joe Garcia, assistant managing editor)
* Arizona Newspapers Association (John Fearing, executive director)
* Steve Doig, Knight Chair in Journalism, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Telecommunication, Arizona State University.
* Arizona Press Club (Alia Rau, president)
* Arizona Daily Sun
* Casa Grande Dispatch
* Chino Valley Review
* The Daily Courier, Prescott
* Kingman Daily Miner
* Mohave Valley Daily News
* Prescott Valley Tribune
* Sedona Red Rock News
* Sierra Vista Herald
* The Sun, Yuma
* Today's News-Herald, Lake Havasu City
* University of Arizona Department of Journalism
* White Mountain Independent
