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Sunshine Week Web Site Goes Live

Published: February 01, 2005
Last Updated: February 01, 2005

FOR RELEASE FEBRUARY 1, 2005

Washington, D.C.—The Web site supporting the first national Sunshine Week, www.sunshineweek.org, is now live. The site will serve as a central clearinghouse for participants, and will later feature many of the open-government editorials, articles, cartoons and other features developed for Sunshine Week, March 13-19.

Included on the Sunshine Week site are links to background reports, resources and open-government organizations; testimonials from Florida editors about the impact of the original Sunshine Sunday; contact information on regional and state coordinators; and materials available for publication, including op-ed columns. Also included are story ideas and a listing of stories involving open records that have appeared around the country. And more will be posted to the site as it's developed.

"We've had great response on Sunshine Week from colleagues around the country. The enthusiasm and excitement for the project is really encouraging,” said Andy Alexander, chairman of the American Society of Newspaper Editors' Freedom of Information Committee and chief of Cox Newspapers' Washington bureau. "The Web site will serve as a distribution hub for news and information and idea sharing."

National Sunshine Week is spearheaded by ASNE with a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in Miami. The Radio-Television News Directors Association also has received a Knight grant to help broadcasters to participate. The more than 50-member Steering Committee includes leaders from media companies, newspapers, magazines, academia and major journalism organizations.