Heads up: Sunshine Week is March 15-21

It's time for newsrooms to start planning for Sunshine Week, the annual celebration of government transparency and journalism's role in it. This year Sunshine Week is March 15-21. If your newsroom hasn't planned any coverage yet, not to worry: the website has plenty of ideas and a bank of free-for-use stories and visuals from major publications.

The annual observance, led by the News Leaders Association and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, is well worth the effort, especially in a major election year. Public trust in the news media is low, and it's important to remind readers of the role that the independent press plays in keeping the government accountable.