No doubt you've seen countless examples of newspapers pining for open government, sunshine laws and freedom of access to court documents. That's fine when you're a journalist chasing evil corporations and big government, but as we all know journalists don't play by the same rules as the rest of us.
The Missoulian was caught cheating their carriers out of money rightfully owed. No one doubts that -- they have settled in the class action lawsuit. But don't bother asking by how much they cheated their own employees, the enforcers of transparency won't talk about it. One might then ask a carrier, but the terms of the settlement are confidential. A good reporter would then turn to the court documents but the newspaper "also took the unusual step of requesting that the entire court file be sealed, which request the court granted."
How can we know if the carriers are making "a living wage?"
