If you would like to have a Freedom of Information Roundtable, first decide why. Formally defining your goals up front is essential. What do you hope to learn from your readers about your FOI coverage? Perhaps you want to know whether your readers support your efforts to obtain government records. Or you may want to find out whether readers view the records information you publish as an invasion of their privacy.

Zero in on your focus. What topic is meaningful to you, your paper and the community? Are you hoping the discussion will provide an opportunity for you to alter negative perceptions? What topic is manageable by you, your newspaper and the community? Do you want changes to occur in your newsroom or in the community as a result of this discussion? What would you like to see changed?

What do you hope to accomplish through this discussion?

• What specific outcome needs to take place for you to feel the discussion was worth your effort?

• What do you want internal and external participants to say when they walk away from the discussion? What is motivating you to have this discussion?

• What do you think the value of this FOI Roundtable will be?

People are obviously the key ingredient for roundtable discussions. The chemistry depends on both the individual participants and the interaction among panel members as they discuss the topic you choose.

Diversity of participants is crucial. The faces you see at your roundtable should reflect your community accurately, in ethnicity and race, gender and age. Participants also should reflect a range of opinions on the topic you are discussing. How will you balance your Roundtable panel for racial and ethnic makeup, age, types of business or occupation?

What combination of internal and external individuals will provide the interaction, information and experience you want?

• Who are the obvious participants, given your topic and desired outcome?

• Are you looking for articulate spokespersons who represent a certain cause or for individuals you consider regular readers who care, but have no ax to grind?

How do you determine what would be the right number of panelists for your FOI Roundtable? Knowing the outcome you want will help you determine how many people to invite. Do you want to gather a broad spectrum of ideas from a larger group? Or do you want to have detailed conversations with fewer people? The FOI Roundtable panels have varied in size from 8 to 21.

Once you have settled on your topic, desired outcome and the kinds of people you want in your roundtable discussion, you will need to figure out whom to invite.

Look for names from internal and external sources.

• Who are the readers who write letters to the editor?

• Can your reporters suggest people who are likely to contribute to the conversation?

• Can you run a story or column in your newspaper explaining your goals and asking for volunteers?

• What names and groups of people are available to you through your circulation department or marketing department?

• Would it be of value to ask your local United Way or Chamber of Commerce to recommend participants?

A key ingredient for enriching the conversation is a neutral, impartial moderator from outside your news organization. This may be a professional facilitator or a respected community figure willing to spend time preparing for the roundtable—perhaps a college professor. The News Journal of Delaware asked a judge to be the facilitator for its FOI Roundtable.

Some newspapers asked The Associated Press to cover their FOI Roundtables to avoid any appearance of bias. In Albany, the local NBC television station taped and broadcast the Times Union's FOI Roundtable.

Will you want to run a news story as well as an op-ed piece? Would the editor like to write a column? How about a comment piece from participants?

Do you want to publish a transcript of the discussion? What information from the FOI Roundtable can you post on your Web site?

• Were your expectations met and did you accomplish what you set out to accomplish?

• Is there a way to observe or measure the outcome of your discussion? Did any part of the discussion give you insight that you didn't have before?

• What kind of feedback did you receive from participants? Did you receive letters or e-mail from readers after you ran a story about your FOI Roundtable?

• Was there a part of the discussion that gave you a sense of hope or encouragement around the chosen topic?

• What successes will you build on to make your next efforts even better?

• What do you want to repeat or rework?

• What was the high point during the FOI Roundtable?

Keep the process alive, active and ongoing. Ask: What follow-up activities are necessary for this conversation to continue? Will you plan a second FOI Roundtable? How will you communicate what you learned to staff members who did not attend the event? Have you written letters or made phone calls thanking participants?