Request 047 — 2/16/2026

Keeping tabs on issues (and keeping your coworkers from talking about it)

Happy Monday! It’s foiaday!

Last night, I published a total haul of requests that sums up a lot of what I’ve requested in the past week! It includes last night’s request, which was for applications for new historic markers in Indiana.

That said, we’ve got a pretty tight update email today — nothing too new to report, and tonight’s request is pretty straightforward: media embargoes, guidances and alerts!

If there's a coworker or friend you think would benefit from this newsletter, feel free to forward it to them! If they subscribe, they'll also get a link to a template for the tracker I like to use to keep tabs on requests I've filed.

Monday’s request: media deets

This is a request that goes hand-in-hand with emails, and possibly also a draft/deliberative process exemption. If you’re signed up for press lists, you’re no stranger to getting boatloads of press releases and a few embargoed ones, too.

This request is going to cover a bit of ground to see what topics agencies are striving to keep tabs on, how they’re communicating with their employees about talking to the press, and the messages they’re putting out about those issues.

So to do that, we’ll grab from Google Alerts, which is a system that will send emails based on certain key phrases and thresholds. Agencies can use them to keep track of names of employees, policy issues or other things that are pertinent for them; I use them in my own work to keep track of republished stories and issues that I’m covering over a long period of time!

So here’s the request for Google Alerts, which I’m in part pulling from this request by Emma Best through MuckRock:

- A list of all emailed Google Alert subscription confirmations received between 1/1/2020 and 2/16/2026.

- Copies of all emailed Google Alerts received between 1/1/2025 and 2/16/2026 or whenever this request is processed. Google Alerts can be identified by any or all of the following: emails containing the phrase "Google Alert" in the subject line, being sent by an email address with the display name "Google Alerts" or being sent from the email address googlealerts-noreply@google.com. Please release all documents in a .pdf or digitized format.

That covers the Alerts. But let’s grab embargoes and guidances, too, which I’m mainly pulling from this MuckRock request from Jimmy Tobias and this request from Erin Marie Miller:

- Any guidances, memos or other orders or documents that limit press access to agency employees or otherwise alter the protocols that employees must abide by when dealing with reporters and other members of the press. Please release records between 1/1/2025 and 2/16/2026.

- Any emails that include and/or contain the word "embargo" that were sent to, or from [email of user] between the dates 1/1/2025 and 2/16/2026. Please include all attachments and redact any PII as necessary. Please release records in a digitized format, like a .pdf, though .eml or .msg is also fine.

For the second request, I’m going to aim it toward chiefs of staff and heads of communications for a few different gubernatorial offices, so that language will vary from request to request. But for the agencies I haven’t requested records from, time to get a log and schedule:

- A log, list, document or data to show all records requests filed with this agency (like a "FOIA log") between 1/1/2024 and the present. Please release documents in a digitized format and include a description of the request, the date of the request, the name or affiliation of the requester and the outcome of the request. Please release the document in a .xlsx or .csv if possible, or a .pdf if not.

- The most recent records retention schedule for the agency, which includes a list of documents kept by the agency and for how long each record is retained. This may be called a general records schedule, a records index, or something else. Please release this in a .pdf if possible.

Weekly requests 💌

Ooookay! Here’s our week full of requests:

Alllllllrighty! That’s a solid bunch of requests. My hope is that by next week I’ll get some more returned!

(I mentioned in last night’s email that I’m on deadline. I’m still on deadline! Nothing has changed. If anything, I’ve gotten a little busier, and a touch more under the weather. But we’re chugging along and sailing through month 2!)

And 🗣️ICYMI 🗣️, buy tickets to NICAR, FOIA Fest or Sunshine Fest and hear me talk about foiaday live on stage! (Or, if you’ll be there in person and want to catch up over coffee, drop me a line!)

Happy filing! Have a great week!

Cam