Youngstown Press Club Panel on FOIA

How to make an effective public records request will be the subject of a June 12 program at the main public library, 305 Wick Ave. The luncheon program, which will begin at noon, is being organized by the Youngstown Press Club and sponsored by the Public Library of Youngstown & Mahoning County. The panel discussion’s title is: “FOIA: What You Need to Know About the Freedom of Information Act.” FOIA is the law that provides public access to federal government records.

The panel will include journalists at the national and local levels, who regularly request and use public records, university journalism and communication professors and a local government official. Panelists will share practical tips, case studies and insight into the challenges and opportunities in filing public records requests at the federal, state and local levels. The panel members will be: Jack Fitzpatrick, who covers Congress for Bloomberg Government; David Skolnick, Vindicator politics writer; Lori Shells Simmons, Youngstown city law director; Mary Beth Earnheardt, chair of the Department of Strategic Communication and Media at Youngstown State University; Mitch McKenney, associate professor of journalism at Kent State University; and the discussion moderator, Adam Earnheardt, professor of communication at YSU.

To register for the program, visit youngstownpressclub.com. Advance registration and payment is required. The reservation deadline is June 5. The fee is $30 for Youngstown Press Club members; $35 for non-members. A portion of event proceeds will go to the club’s college scholarship fund. Founded in 1902 and re-established in 2018, the Youngstown Press Club promotes journalism and related professions in the Mahoning Valley. With origins in the 1840s, the Public Library of Youngstown & Mahoning County is the county’s 14-branch free library system.