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Show Series Explains Public Notices Public notices, or legal advertising adver-tising appear in this and other newspapers regularly, as provided pro-vided under the laws of all of the states. These notices are a part of the basic right of the people to know what their government gov-ernment does with tax money under the American system. Copyright 1961 By James E. Pollard FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (No. 29 in a Series) Much has been made in the United States in recent years about freedom of information or the people's right to know. Agitation over the principle involved in-volved grew out of an increasing trend toward secrecy in government. govern-ment. This has been true at both the national and state levels. Part of this tendency toward secrecy grew out of World War II and the undeclared Korean war and what followed. Some of this could be defended at the time because national" security demanded- it. But this attitude of mind on the part of bureaucracy bureau-cracy and officialdom continued long after any real record for recrecy had passed. This tendency ten-dency was reflected, for example in such elementary matters as local school boards meeting behind be-hind closed doors. Reaction to the policy of needles need-les secrecy in public or official matters took several forms. One was the passage in a number of states of so-called "open meeting laws." Freedom of information committees were set up by the American Society of Newspaper the people to know, especially where their individual or collective col-lective rights are at stake. It is no accident that it is invariably the local newspaper of paid general gen-eral circulation that serves as the chief medium for the publication of such notices as provided by law. Editors, by the professional journalism jour-nalism society of Sigma Delta Chi, and by various state newspaper news-paper associations. The fight for freedom of information in-formation is related directly to the principle underlying public notice or legal advertising. This too, rests upon the basic right of |