Government transparency helps a democracy function, but many communities have a long way to go. One journalism organization is singling out the most secretive government agencies and officials with the Golden Padlock Award. The award, given out by Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), is not much of an honor. This weekend, it went to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office, and the EPA. This year’s finalists included Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Appalachian Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Brenda Weaver. We talked with award committee chair Robert Cribb and Savannah State University professor Robert Smith.

Guest host Tony Harris started off asking Robert Smith of Savannah State University to assess the level of government transparency in Georgia.

Judge Brenda Weaver was nominated for the Padlock Award after jailing a newspaper publisher in Blue Ridge, Georgia because of a public records request. That publisher oversaw the tiny paper the Fannin Focus, which came to an end in December. Mark Thomason, who was the publisher of the Fannin Focus, talks about his newspaper’s demise, and his hopes for small-town investigative journalism.

Tags: Robert Smith  Robert Cribb  Mark Thomason  journalism  Kasim Reed  Atlanta  Georgia