Small businesses often turn to non-bank lenders to borrow money, but hidden terms mean those businesses often have to pay back more than what they borrowed in the first place.

The Trump White House has taken such direct, adversarial aim at the news media that it may obscure a more fundamental concern of transparency advocates: whether the administration is constricting the flow of reliable information to the public.

Governor Bruce Rauner campaigned on a message of transparency. But now his lawyers are fighting attempts to disclose who he's meeting with -- sections of his schedule have been blocked.

Chicago Reader senior journalist Mick Dumke  would know -- he's tried to access that information.