(Senate Judiciary Committee photo courtesy the University of Arizona))

David Cuillier testifed before the Senate Judiciary Committee in July.

The Freedom of Information Act—or FOIA—turned 50 this year. There are concerns that after some prime periods of public information sunshine, that kind of sharing is getting more limited by government and is harder to come by for media outlets.

The University of Arizona's Journalism School Director Dave Cuillier testified before a Senate panel this week and called for strengthening FOIA.

"Freedom of information is not free," Cuillier said. "You have to put the money up to do it right. Otherwise, we the public have no idea what's going on."