Crazyworld

If you've followed the race for Spartanburg County coroner or have met either of the candidates running for that seat, you'lve probably heard them put an emphasis on accessibility.

Now, obviously, if you're dealing with the death of a loved one, that is important to you. But it's also important to us ink-stained wretches who churn out the news. Here's why.

Today's small news item about a body found in an abandoned mobile home is currently the most-read story on GoUpstate.com. If you read the story, you see that there's information missing.

The current regime at the Coroner's Office doesn't allow for reporters to initiate contact with its investigators. There's no central line we can call on nights or weekends. Their cell phones (the numbers for which I had to get through a FOIA request from county administrators) don't have voicemail. E-mail is not an option. Basically, we're at their mercy. We have to wait for them to call and release information on what they determine is news.

It's a terrible setup, because it's our job to determine what's news, not theirs. I honestly believe that most, if not all, of the investigators would be open to a better arrangement, but they're just following orders. And if I was in their position, I would probably do the same. But the orders need to be changed.

This isn't whining, by the way. This is a legitimate problem. One of the reasons crime news is so popular is because people want to make sure no one they know is a victim or has passed away. The Highway Patrol, which also doesn't have the most progressive attitude toward public information, has a strict (though dumbfounding) policy of refusing to identify victims in fatal crashes, and directing reporters to contact the coroner's office -- which, in Spartanburg County, isn't always an option. (I should point out that, in my experience, this hasn't been a problem in Cherokee or Union counties.) The county coroner is no less a public official than any other elected or appointed person. They have to be responsive. And they need to view a reporter as potentially thousands of people (constituents, if it makes you feel better) rolled up into one.

So, whoever wins the coroner's race, I hope that the office will indeed become accessible.

To all of us.

The State Law Enforcement Division, citing state budget cuts, has found yet another way to limit access to public information.

SLED, as the organization is commonly called, charges most people $25 for criminal background checks. It charges only $8 to a charitable organization, a "bona fide mentor" -- whatever that is -- or a recreation commission. In the past, criminal background checks have been free to the media as long as they were on people involved in a crime. (The organization still insisted on charging the press $25 for criminal background checks for candidates for public office, which is absurd. They also charge housing authorities that $25 when they run a background check to screen applicants.)

Now, it's worse.

SLED no longer will provide free criminal background checks to the media -- unless that organization is holding a press conference, in which case courtesy checks will be provided. (That in itself shows a we'll-tell-you-what-we-want-you-to-know mentality, which is straight out of 1984.)

SLED cites a state law that sets the rate for a check at $25. There's another state law they often fail to mention that requires public information to be available at a nominal cost. And then there's all this talk about transparency in government, which goes against charging at all.

I don't know whether this is ridiculous or scary. Maybe it's just plain arrogance on the part of SLED.

This is public information. It should be free to everyone. The organization already has a system in place where you can look up the information online -- as long as you have a credit card to soak up that $25 charge.

PUBLIC INFORMATION IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE USED TO GENERATE REVENUE. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAWS ARE IN PLACE TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC AND THE PRESS, NOT THE GATEKEEPERS OF THE INFORMATION.

I mean, the state Ethics Commission has an online database in place to search candidate disclosure forms and guess what? It's free. I know times are tight in Columbia, but so are they everywhere else. I've lost a lot of colleagues in this field -- both here and friends I've had elsewhere in the media -- and the fear of future cuts isn't subsiding. But we haven't resorted to charging the people we serve for access to our copy online.

SLED should follow the Ethics Commission's lead and make all of their public information available online. The organization should realize that it is not above the law, not above scrutiny, and is nothing more than a public servant just like journalists, or cops or nonprofit volunteers.

I should probably stop now. I'm so angry about this, if I keep going I'm liable to say something to get myself in trouble.