Start planning for Sunshine Week, which begins Sunday

This Sunday the American Society of News Editors kicks off the 12th annual Sunshine Week, a celebration of open government and the free press. At a time when public trust in the news media is at an all-time low, Sunshine Week is an important reminder to readers that journalism serves democracy.

Click here for a reporting package produced by The Associated Press. Columns, cartoons, public-records data, Sunshine Week logos, sample proclamations for adoption by government officials and a page for educators are available in the Sunshine Week toolkit.

Sunshine Week is scheduled each year to include national Freedom of Information Day, March 16. That is the birthday of James Madison, father of the First Amendment. Sunshine Week is made possible by an endowment from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and this year by a donation from The Gridiron Club and Foundation of Washington, D.C.