But that did not particularly impress the U.S. Congress, which took 11 years before passing it, or President Johnson who signed it into law on July 4, 1966, with as little fanfare as possible.

There's little evidence that the FOIA is any more popular with official Washington three decades later. It took Congress more than five years to approve an electronic update of the act in September, and, like Johnson, President Clinton signed it into law on Oct. 2 with as little fanfare as possible.

None of that has deterred ASNE, which played a key role in coaxing the FOIA into existence in the first place and has been one of its most consistent and effective champions in its 30 years of life.

Building on that tradition, incoming president Robert Giles early this year organized a coalition of press and other organizations to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the FOIA. "This is an area ASNE has been interested in for more than three decades," Giles said, "and we would like to continue to play a leadership role."

Representatives of those coalition groups met at The Freedom Forum on Feb. 9 and agreed to launch efforts to help enact the Electronic Freedom of Information Act, establish a FOIA Hall of Fame, and plan a two-day national conference focusing on ways to strengthen access to government information.

At the February meeting, Giles named task forces to work for passage of the EFOIA, decide who would be the first inductees into the Hall of Fame, and plan programs for the conference.

Immediate past president Bill Ketter and FOI Committee Chair Forrest "Frosty" Landon helped plan the conference program, and Executive Director Lee Stinnett and his staff handled administrative and logistical efforts.

Twenty-six organizations formed the Coalition to Support and Expand the Freedom of Information Act, which sponsored the Sept. 12-13 Freedom Forum conference. More than 100 FOI activists, journalists and others attended.

U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, sponsor of the EFOIA legislation, spoke on Thursday evening and was inducted into the Hall of Fame with several others. U.S. Sen. Patrick Moynihan was the keynote speaker at the Friday luncheon.

John Seigenthaler, chair of The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center, moderated a round-table discussion on access versus privacy Thursday evening. Panelists included Jane Kirtley of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Donald Haines of the ACLU, Ellen Hume of PBS, and Robert Gellman, an access and privacy consultant.

Conference attendees were divided into seven break-out sessions on Friday morning to explore strategies for strengthening access to government information and educating the press and the public about their right to know. Session topics: Improving the FOIA, Expanding Access, Access vs. Privacy, Improving Journalists' Use of the FOIA, Building Public Support for Access, Secrecy and National Security, and Technology and Access.

Coalition organizations, individually and collectively, will use recommendations from the break-out sessions and a plenary session Friday afternoon to plan programs and projects to improve public and press access to government information.

Other follow-up to the conference:

• A report on the conference proceedings and recommendations will be published by The Freedom Forum in November.

• Giles plans to establish a working group "to explore ways to expand the coalition and its work and to accommodate the divergent constituencies and goals represented in the coalition."

• Diane McFarlin, chair of ASNE's FOI Committee, led one of the break-out groups and will be announcing a national "Your Right to Know" initiative during ASNE's April convention.

McMasters is First Amendment Ombudsman at The Freedom Forum and a member of ASNE's FOI Committee.