City of Atlanta settles abuse of open records claims with AJC, WSB-TV

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action News have agreed to drop their claims against the city of Atlanta for what the media organizations described as "systemic violations" of the Georgia Open Records Act, according to an agreement reached this week.

Under the agreement, the city will work with the news outlets over the next 90 days in drafting a comprehensive policy that will govern how the city responds to public records requests.

“The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action News have led this fight for the city to be more transparent about its decisions and policies,” said AJC Editor Kevin Riley. “We have done that in the name of citizens who deserve to know how their tax dollars are being spent. We haven’t asked for anything that any citizen shouldn’t have ready access to.”