Uproar after newspaper site posts salaries

The state of Michigan is going through somewhat of a budget crisis. In an effort to shed light on the subject, the Lansing State Journal posted the salary information for all 53,000 of Michigan’s state employees online. Shocker: The paper is taking some serious heat. Public employees and unions are of course steamed – but even one Freedom of Information group isn’t happy – saying the mass posting could set back FOI efforts in Michigan The paper’s publisher says he isn’t having second thoughts: “But the issue isn’t the budget, it really isn’t, and it isn’t the context — it’s that people just don’t want their salaries published, even though it is public information.” What do you think? You can bet the database is generating big traffic for the paper’s site, and the information is public – but is it good journalism?