Beginning today, the Chicago Tribune will help anyone interested navigate government records via their online open records forum, "opening a new front in the news organization's focus on watchdog reporting" according to a press release issued on Friday night provocatively titled "Your Government in Secret".

This announcement does have PR ramifications for Illinois, empowering bloggers to quicken the news cycle, and also help those wishing to dip their toe in opposition research without hiring a specialist.

Journalists in Illinois during the era of disgraced Governor Rod Blagojevich had their Freedom of Information Act request routinely denied. Attorney General Lisa Madigan--nearly ensnared in the scandal as "Senate Candidate #2--is also looking to improve the system of obtaining public records.