Gridlock Guy: Freeflowing information helps traffic flow, too

ATLANTA — The media and the government, no doubt, can have a fraught relationship. Journalists are tasked with keeping all entities accountable and do so by asking tough questions and reporting confirmed facts.

But reporters also are tremendous assets in spreading key information that public officials need people to know in a timely manner.

As the media and government have seemed to more often be on divergent paths of late, extracting important, immediate information from authorities has become more difficult. For the sake of society, this is not at all a good thing.

The state has a responsibility to inform the public when it makes inquiries. No, governments cannot respond to each request and yes, some entities or citizens incessantly pester officials with questions. But civilians have