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Some early coverage and commentary about Sunshine Week

Published: March 13, 2005
Last Updated: March 16, 2005

Some early coverage and commentary about Sunshine Week:

Associated Press President and CEO Tom Curley discusses Sunshine Week and the public's right to know. (AP via The Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

Acknowledging the task of maintaining homeland security is difficult, The Bennington (Vt.) Banner points out in an editorial that "even the strains of fighting terrorism should not outweigh the fundamental values on which the nation was founded—freedom of speech, press and association, along with the others in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution."

WLVT-TV, Knoxville, notes that Tennessee journalists will be joining the national Sunshine Week effort to educate the public about the importance of open government.

To mark Sunshine Week, The Outer Banks Sentinel, Nags Head, N.C., has produced a special section on open government called Sunshine is the Best Disinfectant that will be distributed with its March 13 edition.

Just days before Sunshine Sunday, the Alabama legislature, without a dissent, passes a measure that gives "a well-timed and emphatic stamp of approval to a new open meetings law. It provides a playbook for public officials on when they can and can't meet in private, what notice they have to give to the public, and penalizes those who don't comply," according to an AP report in the Tuscaloosa News.

A reader survey by The Oregonian in Portland found that, "Overall, readers argued strongly for freedom of the press and spoke eloquently about the role that a press should play in a democracy. More than four out of five agreed the newspaper should be allowed to publish freely without government approval of stories and disagreed with the statement that the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees. Fewer than one in six believes the press has too much freedom," according to public editor Michael Arrieta-Walden.

The Society of Environmental Journalists has posted Sunshine Week resources and story ideas on its Web site. Included are links to examples of outstanding environmental stories achieved through government records and a list of essential documents for environmental reporters.

In a report on veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas, Toledo Blade ombudsman Jack Lessenberry notes that Sunshine Week is a time to "both celebrate openness in government and push for more of the same." In his column about Thomas' speech at a Wayne State University dinner, Lessenberry points out that, "Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, the vast majority of public documents are open to public inspection, and federal agencies even have to help people locate specific documents they may be looking for. Yet this still isn't good enough. As Helen Thomas warned, governments like to promise openness—and cut off access as soon as trouble appears."

News Editor Richard K. Lodge of the MetroWest Daily News, Boston, notes that, "The fact that any citizen can obtain information from the government is a precious part of our democracy," and tells readers that, "Starting Sunday, we join newspapers across the country to put some sunshine on this important part of our American way of life: the access to information from, and about, our government."

The Herald Community Newspapers of East Meadow, N.Y., profile New York State Committee on Open Government Executive Director Robert Freeman. "While the 30-year-old landmark legislation will be getting most of the attention during Sunshine Week, a national celebration of the public's right to know March 13-19, Freeman, 58, deserves some kudos, too," the profile notes. "As long as [the state's Freedom of Information Law] FOIL has been around, so has Freeman, guiding journalists and citizens through the nuances of this complex and ever-changing law." (Find an op-ed from Freeman in the Sunshine Week Toolkit.)

The Associated Press reports on the growing number of reporters caught up in legal battles to protect their sources. "Media-sponsored campaigns such as Sunshine Week which begins Sunday are an effort to tell the public about a need for transparency in government," the report notes.

"There's nothing quite as welcome as sunshine at the start of a new day or after a storm as it breaks through and disperses the dark clouds, bringing light and the promise of better weather," begins an editorial in The Winchester (Ky.) Sun "Sunshine Sunday and Sunshine Week is not just about this newspaper and our media colleagues. It's about the public and its right to know. Knowledge is the key to freedom, and true knowledge comes only in the sunshine of public openness and access to government and all its actions. Join us this week and every week in keeping government open and responsive to the public it serves so that freedom's banner will continue to wave proudly for generations yet unborn."

The Gray (Maine) News reminds readers that Sunshine Week has nothing to do with the weather. "Rather, it commemorates the Freedom of Information act, which requires government officials to keep their meetings and decisions open to public scrutiny."

In a guest editorial in the Cook County News-Herald, Grand Marais, Minn., Minnesota Chamber of Commerce Communications Director Jim Pumarlo, a former newspaper editor, writes, "At its foundation, Sunshine Week underscores the importance of the free flow of information for an open, effective and accountable government. Minnesota has some of the strongest laws in the country regarding open government. And the public and the news media must never let down their guard in defending those rights. The bottom line is that public records are the friend of the people as well as the news media."

An Associated Press roundup published in the Plainview (Texas) Daily Herald notes that Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is commemorating Sunshine Week "by praising the Legislature on Thursday for efforts to require all public officials to undergo open government education."

To mark Sunshine Week, the Tri-Town Transcript, Beverly, Mass., will send its reporters into local Town Halls, "to give readers a better understanding of what each department within their respective Town Hall does and what services they offer to residents."

Sunshine Sunday is "not a pre-spring ritual to encourage people to get outdoors and soak up some rays," explains Dana Bowley, editor of El Defensor Chieftain in Socorro County, N.M. "Rather it is a reminder, as spring approaches, of the need to bring the operations of government out of the darkness of the back room and into the sunlight for all to see."

In an editorial supporting Sunshine Week, The Forest-Blade in Swainsboro, Ga., reminds readers that the newspaper—along with other media across the nation—"are raising a common chorus to warn of the dangers of closed government, and to remind all Americans that theirs is a birthright of openness and access."

Using examples of attempts in his community to stifle the flow of government information, Ballard (Wash.) News-Tribune editor Adam Richter writes that, "they show a predilection by people in government to make access more restrictive, not less. Members of the public should care about these kinds of issues. An open government is an accountable government. Sunshine Week is a good opportunity to learn more about these issues and to take public officials to task to make sure information is accessible."

The Community Times in Westminster, Md., reminds readers in an editorial that because the "pool of secrecy widens each month," the paper is joining hundreds of news outlets in recognizing Sunshine Week. "We join with others in reminding everyone that a birthright of this society is government openness and access," the editorial noted, in part.

An editorial in the bi-weekly Norwood News in the Bronx, N.Y., says Sunshine Week "can't come soon enough, as more and more public information is being declared off-limits by government agencies, especially at the federal level. Though it’s sponsored by press organizations, this is an event for all New Yorkers and Americans to participate in. Why? Because secrecy in government is antithetical to American democracy and is harmful to its citizens."

Charles Winkler, managing editor of the Times-Standard, Eureka, Calif., notes the importance of Sunshine Week in a column. He writes, in part that, "although battles have been won on behalf of open access, the war goes on. A few officials and many lobbyists around the country will always find it more convenient to try to do the public's business in private. It's up to all of us who make up the public to remind them—or force them, if necessary—to do otherwise."

The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C., began the lead up to its Sunshine Week observance with an editorial exploring the state of openness and public access in government. It noted, in part, "The Freedom of Information Act reinforces an important American principle: that the vast amount of information compiled by the government ultimately belongs to the people."

As part of its Sunshine Week coverage, the Asheville (N.C.) Citizen-Times plans to tell the story of a weekly editor from Belarus who, along with his editor, was sentenced to hard labor and exiled for questioning whether the president there should be re-elected. The editor spent two weeks at the Citizen-Times and the paper is planning articles and columns to run during Sunshine Week.

South Florida Sun-Sentinel editor Earl Maucker notes the origins of Sunshine Week in his state, reminds readers that the challenge "will be to drive home the point that this is not just about the press, or journalists who want access to information."

An editorial in The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va., notes, in part, that Sunshine Week "should not be viewed as a self-serving observance organized by journalists for journalists. It is designed to generate public discussion about why open government is important to everyone."

An editorial in the March/April 2005 Columbia Journalism Review applauds the Sunshine Week effort, noting, in part, that "More such efforts are in order."

Reminding its readers that Sunshine Week is an important public event, not just for the media, the Lake Orion (Mich.) Eccentric notes, "So when councils, commissions and boards meet in hastily-called meetings, chart out plans in sub-quorum groups, use the phone or e-mails to plan out voting strategy, or find other ways to skirt these Sunshine Laws, they must be challenged. Not for the sake of the media, for the sake of the public."

The Suffolk (Va.) News Herald points to the upcoming Sunshine Week and wanrs that, "From Washington to state houses to city councils, officials are increasingly conducting the public business in secret and getting away with it."

Freedom of Information and press rights apply to student journalists, too, notes the Student Press Law Center Bulletin in an article about how young people can get involved in Sunshine Week.

Macon Telegraph editorial calls for defeat of bill to close all records about economic development plans; says citizens should get involved in Sunshine Week efforts.

Tucson Citizen columnist Mike Chihak notes the importance of recognizing Sunshine Week.

The Post-Crescent in Appleton, Wis., says governor will declare Sunshine Week in Wisconsin. Paper's FOI audit shows varying levels of compliance to records requests.

Every newspaper should participate in the Sunshine Week "national response to the growing climate of government secrecy," says an Editor & Publisher editorial.

Editor & Publisher reports on the launch of the first national Sunshine Week.