Longtime AP biz reporter Gordon has retired

Marcy Gordon, a longtime business reporter at the Associated Press, has retired.

She most recently was covering technology policy and the Federal Trade Commission.

“You can find out what the FTC is doing or what people want them to do by talking to people on The Hill who are active in this area,” she said, especially people like Richard Blumenthal and Edward Markey. The FTC holds open meetings, and you can try to get to know the staff people and the commissioners. FOIA requests can help get “hidden” information.

Gordon spoke in December at a National Press Foundation event on how The Associated Press is currently doing an investigative series called Tracked, which is supported by the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting. A recent article “Tech tool offers police ‘mass surveillance on a budget’” found that local law enforcement in California was using a cell phone tracking tool called Fog Reveal, which gives them the power to follow people’s movements months back in time. They obtained these public records and internal emails through FOIA requests. “I think that’s a good example of getting information from opaque and powerful institutions.”

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