By the News Leaders Association
Sunshine Week is a non-partisan, non-profit national initiative begun in 2005 by the American Society of News Editors — now the News Leaders Association — to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Participants have included news media, civic groups, libraries, nonprofit organizations, schools and individuals concerned about the public's right to know.
To mark Sunshine Week, organizations and nonprofits pressing for greater transparency have held forums addressing specific open government issues, presented research reports focusing on secrecy problems, and surveyed state compliance with open records laws and the incompleteness of local government websites, showing increasing citizen distrust spawned by government opaqueness.
News media have produced special reports and series for print, online and broadcast that featured not only the information gleaned by open records access, but also the process that they had to undergo to get the information.
Public officials have taken notice of Sunshine Week by issuing open-government proclamations, introducing laws, ordinances and policy changes designed to increase transparency, and by announcing website improvements that expanded the public’s access to government information.
If your organization is holding an event to highlight this year’s Sunshine Week, and you would like to have it considered for submission on our events calendar, click here.
News Organizations: If you would like to submit stories, editorials, columns, cartoons or graphics for public use during Sunshine Week, email your content links to sunshineweek@newsleaders.org. Please include a brief description and/or headlines suitable for posting on the Sunshine Week website.
We invite you to join the News Leaders Association in this annual nationwide celebration of access to public information and what it means for you and your community. It’s your right to know.
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