Lynn Hicks, the opinion editor of The Des Moines Register, will become president of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council for 2017.
He replaces Dave Busiek, news director of KCCI-TV in Des Moines.
Zack Kucharski, executive editor of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, moves up to first vice president for 2017.
Keith Bliven, news director of KTIV-TV in Sioux City, joins the Iowa FOI Council’s board of trustees as the organization’s second vice president.
The Iowa Freedom of Information Council is a 40-year-old education and advocacy organization made up of journalists, lawyers, educators and other citizens committed to open and transparent government in Iowa.
The council publishes the Iowa Open Meetings, Open Records Handbook, a guide to the state’s open-government laws. Several thousand copies of the handbook are distributed statewide each year.
The council also is designated by the Iowa Supreme Court to coordinate the state’s Expanded News Media Coverage program, which allows photographers and other digital journalists to work inside state courtrooms under most circumstances.