Watchdog.org: Requests for email of two university professors were denied on the grounds that the emails on N.C. State accounts related to private consulting jobs and therefore did not qualify as public records.
Paul Chesser, proprieter of the conservative link aggregator site CarolinaPlottHound.com, requested emails of N.C. State professors Robert Handfield and Michael Cobb. Chesser was seeking emails related to a report Handfield prepared for several regional film commissions and the Motion Picture Association of America about the effectiveness of incentive programs for filmakers in the state. He was also seeking email related to a blog that Cobb maintains for WRAL News.
Chesser reports that the requests were denied on the basis that the emails were not prepared in the course of conducting state business – despite having used university email and letterhead – so they are not public records. Since both professors were providing the work as consultants, the university said the emails were private.
Read Chesser’s report on the denied requests here.