Florida's "Sunshine Week" Highlights the Importance of Open Government
Nancy Kranich, past President of the American Library Association, sent an interesting message to the NCDD Discussion list today about "Sunshine Week," a March 13-19, 2005 event that generates editorials, op-eds, editorial cartoons and news stories about the importance of open government. Begun in Florida in 2002, Sunshine Sunday and Sunshine Week spawned similar initiatives in several other states. Click below for the full announcement.
ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 14, Number 18 March 2, 2005
In This Issue: Save the Date for Sunshine Week
Sunshine Week: March 13-19, 2005
Opening a dialogue about the public's right of access to government information is the focus of Sunshine Sunday and Sunshine Week: Your Right to Know, which kick off March 13, 2005 and continue through the following week.
Participating daily and weekly newspapers, magazines, online sites, and radio and television broadcasters will feature editorials, op-eds, editorial cartoons, and news and feature stories that drive public discussion about why open government is important to everyone, not just to journalists.
Sunshine Sunday began in Florida in 2002. Led by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors, the event generated editorials, op-eds, editorial cartoons and news stories about the importance of open government. FSNE estimates that some 300 exemptions to open government laws were defeated in the legislative sessions that followed the three Sunshine Sundays, many because of the increased public awareness that resulted. Since then, several other states have launched similar initiatives.
For more information on this great upcoming event, visit www.sunshineweek.org
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ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office.
