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Sunshine Week 2006 Online Gallery Five

Published: May 29, 2006
Last Updated: June 12, 2006

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The LAFD News & Information blog focused on Sunshine Week on Sunday, March 12, reminding readers of "the importance of all Americans to become active in guiding the workings of their local, regional, state and federal agencies—and that includes the Los Angeles Fire Department."

The LAFD blog post didn't stop at a civics lesson, however. It included links and phone numbers to key city agencies and government offices; it linked to posts for meetings and agendas, press releases and government calendars.

Spokesman Brian Humphrey said Sunshine Week is a great time to remember that "public information does not belong to the news media any more than it belongs to us [government officers]; it belongs to the public."

The blog, launched in mid-2004 at no cost to the department, has been a successful way to not only get information to people, but also to listen to their concerns via the comment opportunities, Humphrey explained, adding that he is looking forward to participating in Sunshine Week 2007.

When Hampton University senior Daarel Burnette II went to the campus police department to prepare his Sunshine Week article for Black College Wire, the former Hampton Script editor expected what he'd experienced in the past: administrative derision and lack of cooperation.

"So," he wrote, "it was nothing less than a shock when the police department secretary handed me a glossy booklet listing all the campus crime reported since 2002 in an organized chart.

"She didn't ask why.

"She didn't write down my name.

"She didn't even give me an odd look. She handed it over with a smile.

" 'Have a nice day, honey,' she said."

Noting that Hampton's campus crime statistics tell a different story than Burnette had imagined, he called it "vital that Hampton University and every other institution of higher learning provide these statistics to their residents."

The Times in Shreveport, La., marked Sunshine Week with comprehensive in-paper and online coverage, in addition to co-hosting a debate on national security issues.

The event, sponsored by The Times and Northwestern State University's Student Government Association and the NSU Department of Journalism, featured Colorado Gov. Bill Owens and ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero. The debate, "Liberty vs. Security and the Patriot Act: How to Keep America Safe and Free," was moderated by Times Executive Editor Alan English.

In the days leading up to the debate, which was held on the NSU campus in Natchitoches, Times readers were invited to submit questions for the participants.

"We do this," English said of co-hosting the forum, "as part of a great tradition and bedrock freedom that allows Americans to openly discuss ideas and to express opinions… From The Times point of view, it is also fitting that the forum corresponds with the observance of Sunshine Week, a time to celebrate America’s right to open, representative government, and to sound warnings about any threats to that ideal."

In addition to its involvement in the debate, The Times featured a week's worth of articles and graphics focusing on open government issues in the community. The coverage kicked off with a Sunday package looking at the state of Louisiana's open records and meetings laws, with graphics and opinion columns, as well as how-to get information.

Among the other coverage during Sunshine Week were profiles of local citizens and officials at the forefront of maintaining public access to government information, including a look at who's using open records laws, and an examination of how local police are responding to requests.

The Times' online coverage also played a role in its Sunshine Week offerings, with links to the paper's coverage, as well as sites than can help readers learn more about open government and access Louisiana and national resources online.

The Associated Press produced a series of articles for Sunshine Week, both at the national level and within its bureaus across the country. AP posted the articles on its Freedom of Information News page.

AP also sponsored the Sunshine Week panel during the ASNE convention in Seattle.

The results of AP's analysis of FOI laws in all 50 states since 9/11, found that among the 1,023 new laws passed that change the public's access to government information and meetings, 616 restricted access, while only 284 made access easier.

Following up on its state FOI analysis, AP looked at how the federal government processes FOIA requests. What it found was that agency backlogs of pending FOI requests at the close of fiscal year 2004 had increased 24 percent over the year before. Agencies were even late in filing their required annual FOIA reports.

In a Q&A prepared for Sunshine Week, AP President and CEO Tom Curley noted, "We must understand we are engaged in a long-term battle. Freedoms must be won anew by each generation. Crosscurrents in public and government thinking linger from the attacks on the United States in 2001. Signs of progress include the executive order to improve compliance, media industry engagement in open-records issues and at least some increased support. Unfortunately, an absurdly high amount of government information is being classified."

[Updated June 12, 2006]

Finding "no better laboratory in which to experiment than the Pennsylvania Legislature," the Herald Standard in Uniontown published a special form for readers to send to lawmakers in an effort to get information on state legislators' spending.

The Herald Standard included legislators' photos, office addresses, and phone and fax numbers.

"You hear it all the time: We say it's tough, if not impossible, to get information about how your state representative or senator spends your tax money, since they're exempt from the state's open records law. They say that plenty of detail is available and it's just as easy as punch to obtain the information, and we're just trying to make them look bad," read an editorial explaining the form.

"So that you can find out who's telling the truth—and just how responsive your state government is—we invite you to fill out, clip and mail the form letter at the bottom of this column," the Herald Standard continued. "It's nearly an exact duplicate of the ones that we use when we're requesting information from government agencies. (Remember, too, that you don't have to work for a newspaper to ask for such information; it's your right as a citizen.)"

The Brookings Institution in Washington hosted a Sunshine Week panel that looked at the issue of Global Transparency: Empowerment and Democracy in the 21st Century" with panelists from around the world.

Joining Brookings Senior Fellow Ann Florini were Thomas S. Blanton, director of the National Security Archive at George Washington University; Nikhil Dey, founder and member, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan; Aruna Roy, founder and member, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, and member, Indian National Advisory Council, Tania Sanchez, coordinator, Transparency Project/Collective for Transparency, and fundar, Centro de Análisis e Investigación; and Alasdair S. Roberts. director, Campbell Public Affairs Institute, and associate professor, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University.

"The debate over the relative merits of transparency and secrecy is not just an American debate any more," Florini commented. "There are now some 60 countries around the world that have some version of freedom of information acts and the numbers are growing all of the time.

"But there are also signs in many parts of the world, including our own, of a trend toward greater government secrecy," she added.

The event transcript can be read online, via the Brookings Web site.

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