How can federal agencies be more responsive in making the information they gather and hold available to the public? Agencies are currently grappling with that question as they prepare new "open government plans" required by the White House. On Feb. 28, the Obama administration issued guidance to outline the approach that agencies should take with the next set of open government plans, which are due June 1, 2014.

On Feb. 28, Idaho became the seventh state in the country to criminalize filming abusive or otherwise unethical activities on farms. These laws (dubbed "ag-gag" laws) limit transparency and keep Americans in the dark about food safety problems. Activists, journalists, and whistleblowers play a vital role in exposing animal abuse, unsafe working conditions, and other violations on farms.

In August 2008, six-month-old Kennedy Brotherton Jones died when her head got trapped in her bassinet. Her parents later learned that another child had died in the same way in the same model of bassinet a year earlier. That death had been reported to federal product safety authorities, but the danger had not been communicated to the public – including Kennedy’s parents. Today, a government website provides information that can help prevent future tragedies.