When a bridge suddenly closes, the immediate concern is safety. But for reporters in Ocean Springs, the closure of the Davis Bayou Bridge raised another question: what information about infrastructure safety should the public be able to access?

In this episode of Matter of Fact, we go behind the reporting of the Roy Howard Community Journalism Center’s investigation into the bridge closure and the legal battle over access to inspection records. The reporting began after the bridge was shut down in March 2025, disrupting traffic and raising questions about how long structural problems may have existed and who knew about them.

Listeners learn how the Center pursued answers by filing a public records request with the Mississippi Department of Transportation seeking inspection reports and maintenance records. When the request was denied under a federal safety-data exemption, the Center appealed the decision and later filed a complaint with the Mississippi Ethics Commission.

The commission ultimately ruled that the records should be released under the Mississippi Public Records Act — a decision that arrived as lawmakers considered new legislation that could limit access to certain roadway safety documents.

RHCJC reporter Justin Glowacki joins host Hilawe Tibebe for a Behind the Lens conversation about the investigation, including how the reporting evolved from a local infrastructure story into a broader examination of transparency and government accountability. Glowacki discusses the process of speaking with city, county and state officials, filing public records requests and reporting on legislation that could directly affect journalists’ ability to obtain information.

At its core, this episode explores a fundamental question: when public safety is involved, how much information should the public be allowed to see?

Listeners can read the full reporting on the Davis Bayou Bridge and the Center’s public records case at RHCJCNews.com.