The Freedom of Information Act is a wondrous thing, but let's face it, most government officials don't make getting what you want easy.
On top of that, navigating the minefield of laws and processes is no picnic. You've got to figure out what exactly the law permits, to whom you should send your request, how to phrase it -- and of course, what you want.
It sure would be nice if someone would do all that work for you. You'll have to talk to your editor about that, but I can offer you the next best thing: The Fully-Automated Fill-in-the-Blanks FOI Letter Generator, courtesy of The Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press.
Yes, this form actually does most of your work for you: you enter what you want, chose an agency from a drop-down list, and voila, it spits out a printable form complete with the proper wording and the agency's address.
It's only designed for requests from federal agencies. Filing state freedom of information requests can be more complicated, because each state has its own laws.
Fortunately, the Student Press Law Center has built a fill-in-the-blanks form for state freedom of information requests, which plugs in each state's statutes: http://www.splc.org/foiletter.asp.
It doesn't, though, automatically enter the name and address to send the request to -- but this list from The National Freedom of Information Coalition will help steer you right.
You'll also want to check to see what exactly is and isn't public in your state. The Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press Tapping Officials' Secrets guide will tell you everything you ever wanted to know.
Now, if only government agencies would let us submit our FOI requests online....
Links from Jon:
