Through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), anyone can seek access to public records held by federal agencies. Members of the news media are entitled to a fee waiver.Prior restraint is a legal term referring to a government’s actions that prevent materials from being published. Censorship that requires a person to seek governmental permission in the form of a license or imprimatur before publishing anything constitutes prior restraint every time permission is denied. More recently, prior restraint has often taken the form of an injunction or other governmental order prohibiting the publication of a specific document or subject. Sometimes, the government becomes aware of a forthcoming publication on a particular subject and seeks to prevent it. In other cases, the government attempts to halt ongoing publication and prevent its resumption. These injunctions are also usually considered to be cases of prior restraint,Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
Through the Freedom of Information Act, anyone can seek access to public records held by federal agencies. Members of the news media are entitled to a fee waiver.The Reporters Committee’s guide to federal FOIA
http://www.rcfp.org/foiact/index.html
And that same group’s state-by-state FOIA guide:
http://www.rcfp.org/ogg/index.php
