How Trib reporter got public records faster for crib-safety story

At the Chicago Tribune, Ellen Gabler looked into the number of deaths caused by crib bumpers, which wrap around the inside of a crib to make it look cozy and “help prevent babies from bumping their heads or getting their limbs caught in crib slats.”

She found that there could be more deaths associated with the bumpers than the more than two dozen reports in the past two decades that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission acknowledged.  She reports:

“Federal regulators have known for years that bumper pads could pose a suffocation hazard but have failed to warn parents.”

Ellen Gabler's story for the Chicago Tribune prompted the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to re-examine the safety of crib bumpers.

That story in December 2010 prompted a re-examination of the safety of bumpers by the commission. Ellen did five more stories on bumper safety, among them reporting that the city of Chicago had banned their sale and the American Academy of Pediatrics had issued a new guideline against their use.

Today’s Tip: When seeking public records, ask to redact information you won’t need.

“Ask what you need to delete to get information faster,” she says. “You have to be careful though because you don’t want to give away your rights to get data.”

Ellen says the names of the manufacturers weren’t relevant for her story. The commission “is required by law to contact manufacturers and ask them to respond,” she says. “That becomes a stalling technique for the company.”

Because the commission’s data were incomplete, Ellen had to search local health department records and medical examiner reports, she says. She also had to rely on groups such as the National Center for Child Death Review and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Ellen recently left the Trib to become an investigative reporter/assistant editor at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.