It’s Sunshine Week, the annual celebration of access to public information, this year coordinated by the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. To commemorate the power of public information, we’ve asked experts to share their tips for requesting open records and responding when facing roadblocks to access.
Caryn Baird, an award-winning investigator and researcher for PolitiFact and the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, offered her tips for reporters covering national and local campaigns.
What public records should journalists seek when reporting on political candidates?
Baird: You have to figure out the candidate’s basic outline. What is the profile … that they’re trying to convince you to believe in? So, I always start with: Who are they for real? I have a 15-point checklist for researching candidates. I go to white pages. I go to all their social media profiles. I see what they claim to be. I check into the campaign contributions, who they have given to, and see what is given to them. Dig into court records.
Where are some specific places to look for these?
Baird: For court records, go to CourtListener. It is a free legal search engine, and it will give you a snapshot [of court records ] across the nation of roughly 4,000 counties — plus it gives you access to PACER documents, which are federal court cases. Always run your candidates’ names there and their staff, the campaign manager, the treasurer. … For campaign finance information, go to this Federal Elections Commission site and when you find the candidate, see who else gives money from the same address; go to OpenSecrets, a database which can be kind of a tip sheet [on campaign finance money]; for social media, check Facebook and Instagram, but also LinkedIn, Rumble, Truth Social, Newsmax, and Reddit… A lot of times, reporters don’t think to run the candidate’s name through Reddit. Sometimes people who know a candidate, like their old roommate, will go on there and talk about the candidate — and that person could be a source.
Where else should we look for interesting records information?
Baird: You can look at VoterRecords.com to make sure the person is actually registered in the county they claim to be running in. You can get their street address with their registration, which can be different from what they use for their campaign. Once you find out the street address, you can also see who lives with them. If they are a candidate who has run for office before, look at the TV archives at the Wayback, go to advance search, and select “search political ads” and you can uncover old political ads where the candidate may have said something in 2019 and changed their story by 2024.
What are the biggest obstacles you face in doing public records searches?
Baird: The bane of my existence is cell phones and emails. It’s illegal to have a directory of cell phone numbers, and looking for emails is truly the misery of my day. So, I teach people to use corporate databases to look for cell phones and emails, look for spouses and kids of the candidate; they can be in systems that will also show you the candidate’s phone or email address.
Where might reporters not think to look for records connected to campaigns?Baird: For anyone touching the Trump campaign, at this point, I would check the Russia connection: See if their name shows up by putting their name into Russian websites (sites that end in .ru), and have their name translated into Russian and to see if their name shows up.
Caryn Baird is worth listening to.