03/06/06

AP, others join fight to force open FEMA records


ATLANTA (AP) -- The Associated Press and three major media companies have joined the legal fight to try to force the Federal Emergency Management Agency to produce names of people who got federal aid after the 2004 hurricanes in Florida.

Attorneys representing the AP, E.W. Scripps Co., Media General Corp. and the Tribune Co. filed a brief March 6 urging the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a lower court's ruling that the names of FEMA aid recipients are exempt from disclosure requirements of the Freedom of Information Act.

The News-Press of Fort Myers, Pensacola News Journal and Florida Today, all owned by Gannett Inc., sued in federal court a year ago after FEMA had refused to disclose who received assistance and how much each one got.

The newspapers argued they needed the information to examine alleged inequities and fraud in the distribution of more than $1.5 billion in assistance. At least 26 people have been charged with filing false claims with FEMA in South Florida.

In November, U.S. District Judge John E. Steele agreed with government lawyers who contended FEMA needed to protect the privacy of disaster victims to comply with the federal Privacy Act of 1974.

The case is now before the appeals court.

"The decision in this case will have a direct and immediate impact on the ability of the (media outlets) to report about both relief efforts that already have taken place and those that will take place in the future," the attorneys wrote in the brief.

The AP is the oldest and largest news organization in the world, serving as a source of news, graphics, audio and video for more than 1 billion people a day. E.W. Scripps Co. is the publisher of the Naples Daily News, The Stuart News, The Press Journal in Vero Beach and The Tribune in Fort Pierce.

Media General's holdings in Florida include The Tampa Tribune. The Tribune Co. publishes the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and The Orlando Sentinel.