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Your connection to industry & member news | Oct. 16, 2025
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By Eric P. Robinson, USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications
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| Federal agency proposes eliminating FOIA backlog by trashing requestsUnder the federal Freedom of Information Act, government agencies are in most cases supposed to respond to requests for government information with at least an initial response within 20 business days. Despite this, delayed and backlogged requests are common, with some requests taking months and even in some cases years.
The federal Department of Energy—which oversees, among other facilities, the Savannah River Site near Aiken—has proposed a solution to this problem: but the fix is problematic, and may be illegal.
On August 14, the Department of Energy proposed that it eliminate its backlog of FOIA requests by simply purging all FOIA requests made or transferred (from another agency) to DOE headquarters before Oct. 1, 2024 that are still pending, unless the requestor specifically notifies the agency of continued interest in the requests within 30 days of announcement of the new policy (since the 30th day is a Saturday, the deadline was Monday, Sept. 15). The notice, published in the Federal Register, added that notification of continued interest must be sent to a specific email address, StillInterestedFOIA@hq.doe.gov, and include the specific DOE HQ FOIA control number(s) for the request. Notifications sent elsewhere “may result in an inadvertent closure of the FOIA request(s).”
The department said that it would email requesters for whom it had email addresses and refer them to the notice of the new policy. But it did not say anything about contacting requestors for whom the agency does not have email addresses. Read more
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Local Government Beat Reporting Roundtable set for Nov. 14Reporters and editors who regularly cover local government topics are invited to join their peers for a Local Government Beat Reporting Roundtable on Friday, Nov. 14, from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m., at SCPA Offices in Columbia.
This event will be an informal space to share ideas and collaborate on how to best cover the complex issues our local governments face. Journalists who cover local government are welcome to attend.
Topics are up to the group, but may include: story/series ideas, FOI/legal issues, building trust with sources, reporting on budgets, storytelling with data, hot button issues affecting local government bodies, meeting coverage, resources, challenges you face on the beat and more. We’ll also allow time for open discussion.
Please submit discussion topics, ideas and specific questions on the registration form.
The cost to attend is $30, which includes a boxed lunch. Register today!
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Add your delinquent tax sale notices to public notice site A friendly reminder that all delinquent tax sale notices should be uploaded to the statewide public notice site. You can upload your PDFs to SCPublicNotices or email the files to SCPA with run dates and we will upload the notices to the site for you.
We also encourage you to promote these notices with teasers on your front page, as well as on your website’s home page and social media.
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|  Don't forget to review and submit corrections to your Directory listing proof by Friday, Oct. 17. The new edition will be distributed in November.
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Haley named director of sales for Midlands Media Group
Local media veteran, Jeff Haley, has been appointed the new Director of Sales for Midlands Media Group (MMG).
Haley brings a wealth of experience to the role, having previously held positions with Alpha Media and, most recently, Cumulus. Haley was raised in Pickens, SC and is a graduate of the University of South Carolina. He and his wife, Terri, have made Lexington their home and they're active members of St. Andrews Baptist Church.
“It’s exciting to partner with a locally owned company who has shared values in its commitment to the local community, connecting with listeners and helping local businesses succeed - while providing exceptional service and results,” said Haley.
“We’ve admired Jeff’s ability to develop local relationships for a long time. His passion for our industry and energy for creating winning advertising strategies is exactly what we value at MMG. His existing relationships with members of our team are the icing on the cake and we enthusiastically welcome him to this role,” said Keith Stover, MMG President.
[Cola Daily, a local news site that's part of MMG, is an Online News Publication member of SCPA.]
By Tiffany Coker, Cola Daily | Read more
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Judge in FOIA suit against USC wants more info about $20.5M shared with athletes
A judge has ordered that the University of South Carolina must provide the court more information about the $20.5 million in revenue being shared with student-athletes.
Frank Heindel, a South Carolina freedom of information advocate, filed a lawsuit against USC on Sept. 30 for withholding information about its revenue-sharing program. Its secrecy, Heindel said, is “legally untenable.” The judge’s order was issued at a preliminary hearing Friday.
Heindel sent USC a request for public records under South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act on Sept. 4. He asked for any revenue-sharing contracts, agreements or memorandums of understanding between the university and its football players.
The university denied the request six days later. Heindel was told that the records he requested were considered “scholastic records” and protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law that shields a student’s educational records from disclosure. Therefore, the FOIA coordinator said, there were no records responsive to his request.
The lawsuit asks that a court either order USC to turn over the records in their entirety, or hold a confidential hearing to determine what might be exempt from disclosure.
By Alexa Jurado, The State | Read more
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Editorial: SC secrecy epidemic spreads to Winthrop, and lawsuit features a new twist
There’s obviously bad blood between Winthrop University and its former general counsel, Christopher Todd Hagins — who was not the one who made the decision to add “former” to his title. The breach seems particularly significant because Mr. Hagins also served until his firing last year as secretary to the board, which is a high-profile and high-trust position at most universities.
As The Post and Courier’s Ian Grenier reports, Mr. Hagins alleges in a lawsuit he filed against the Rock Hill university last month that he was fired because he refused to retaliate against an employee who had reported the executive director of the president’s office for allegedly using a racial slur. He also has filed a separate complaint about his firing with the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission and the state’s human resources division.
We have no idea whether his firing was legal or if his claim about the other employee true, and we don’t need to know, because that’s not what interests us about his lawsuit. His lawsuit is an extraordinary attack on what he says is the Winthrop board’s repeated violation of South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act. He cites 27 examples in the nine months since the relationship went south.
As such, it contributes to the growing body of such lawsuits that are our only hope of forcing governmental bodies to do the public’s work in public — at least until the Legislature strengthens the FOI law or the attorney general starts enforcing it himself by suing state and local agencies or, better, both.
From The Post and Courier | Read more
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Hegseth changes Pentagon press policy: 5 takeaways
Starting on Wednesday, all but one media outlet that regularly covers the Department of Defense is set to lose access to the Pentagon.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth demanded that reporters agree by 5 p.m. Tuesday to a new policy, under which they would need to pledge to not obtain or use any unauthorized material, even if the information is unclassified — or hand over their press badges in the next 24 hours. Media outlets say this is a violation of their First Amendment rights, and nearly every news outlet has refused to sign.
The rejections mean that for the first time since the Eisenhower administration, no major U.S. television network or publication will have a permanent presence in the Pentagon.
Reporters and editors, who have urged defense officials to reconsider the policy, say they will continue to cover the U.S. military with or without access to the building. But the rules mark a new chapter in how journalists will cover the armed forces.
By Ellen Mitchell, The Hill | Read more
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