This is a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) determination issued on December 2nd, 2016 by the Illinois Attorney General Public Access Counselor in response to a request for review submitted by an unnamed individual who claimed that their postings on two different websites qualified them as news media for the purposes of FOIA.
The PAC said that the mere establishment of a website and dissemination of criticism is not sufficient to meet the definition of news media. The PAC discussed various court cases that analyze and distinguish postings to a bulletin board type of website vs the creation of journalistic content similar to that of a printed newspaper.
In considering this particular requester’s qualifications as news media, the PAC noted that the websites cited by the requester simply contained links to public records and links to other news publications, but noted that neither website contained original content and the websites did not resemble a newspaper, periodical or other news service.
The PAC determined that the requester did not qualify as news media and that the City of Collinsville had correctly treated the requester as a recurrent requester.
City of Collinsville FOIA Request for Review- 2016 PAC 44649