By: Charles Bowen Generations of reporters have learned how to "follow the paper trail." And thanks to movies and television shows, even the general public is familiar with that descriptive term for digging out documents in the pursuit of a story.
What the public may not realize is that our hunt got a bit easier 35 years ago with the passage of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a federal law promising public access to U.S. government records. Those of us who were working in a newsroom at the time the law was enacted still remember Justice Louis D. Brandeis' classic phrase that was widely cited at the time: "Sunlight is the best disinfectant." In fact, many states that passed similar acts dealing with open records and open meetings called them "sunshine laws."
Today a powerful Web site operated by George Washington University has become the cyberspace center for open records of all kinds. An electronic extension of the university's 15-year-old National Security Archive, the site collects and publishes declassified documents acquired through the FOIA. It covers everything from the people and policies that led to the Sept. 11 attacks to pop culture's historic meeting between Richard Nixon and Elvis Presley. It has an impressive collection of national and international data.
To look in on it, visit the site at
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv, where an attractive opening screen provides links and summaries of the latest additions to its growing reservoir of data.
For instance, at this writing, the introductory screen highlighted documents relating to:
* Peruvian intelligence chief Vladimiro Montesinos' alleged bribe of $15,000 to opposition congressman Alberto Kouri for his defection to President Alberto Fujimori's Peru 2000 Party.
* Cuba's policies and involvement in Africa in the 1960s and 1970s.
* The latest U.S. documents on the role of Special Forces in Afghanistan and the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
The busy introductory page also has links to current news related to open records and the posting of historic documents relevant to current events, such as documents related to Gerald Ford's policy on East Timor. And the GWU center is not only a repository of data, but also an activist in getting release of secret but historic documents. Archive lawsuits under FOIA have forced the release of previously secret documents ranging from the Kennedy-Khruschev letters during the Cuban Missile Crisis to the diaries of Oliver North during Iran-contra.
When you need to find some of these archived files, use the site's "Search" option located at the top of any of the screens. The site's search facilities are powered by Google.
Other considerations for using the National Security Archive in your writing and editing:
1. The site's Electronic Briefing Books, reached by clicking the "Documents" option at the top of any page, provide online access to critical declassified records on specific issues, including U.S. national security, foreign policy, military history, intelligence policy, and more.
2. Online archive publications, reaching by clicking the "Publications" option, include a dozen microfiche collections that cover topics such as Iran-U.S. policy, the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, Afghanistan, nuclear proliferation, U.S. presidential directives, U.S.-China relations, and more. Also available are assorted books written by archive staff and associates.
3. For more tips on using the site, click the "Research" option at the top of any screen for an overview of the resources and how to use them.
To see Bowen's last 10 columns,
click here. Previous columns may be purchased in our
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