Sunshine Week will celebrate open government and freedom of the press March 13-19

It's a good time to begin preparing for Sunshine Week, an annual event to celebrate open government and freedom of the press. Now in its 11th year, this year's event will be from March 13-19. National Freedom of Information Day is March 16, the birthday of James Madison, father of the First Amendment.

The American Society of News Editors and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press are working with major news organizations, such as The Associated Press, The McClatchy Co. and Tribune News Service to put together a package of enterprise stories, sidebars, an analysis, photos, videos and informational graphics, which will be available on the ASNE, Reporters Committee, AP and Sunshine Week websites.

The Sunshine Week site will also provide other tools, including op-eds, editorial cartoons, Sunshine Week logos and the newly created list of open-government questions that journalists can ask federal candidates. The website also features freedom of information story ideas and past work from Sunshine Week, as well as a list of participants and a calendar of events.

Sunshine Week 2016 is made possible by an endowment from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and by generous donations from Bloomberg and the Gridiron Club and Foundation. For more information about Sunshine Week, visit sunshineweek.org. Follow Sunshine Week on Twitter and Facebook, and use the hashtag #SunshineWeek.