Free Republic

While Gov. Phil Murphy has pledged to be transparent throughout the coronavirus pandemic, his administration has denied or slowly responded to requests for records related to New Jersey spending, communications and decision-making. Sunshine Week, an annual focus on press freedoms and the fight for government transparency, comes a year after the state marked its first positive case, and soon after that, the first death from the virus.

We hear it all the time from politicians: They are finally going to stop the “waste, fraud, and abuse” in government. In states with more corruption, like Pennsylvania, New York, or Illinois, calls to clean up government are frequent as well. The problem is that these promises rarely come to fruition. This week—Sunshine Week—is a perfect time to stop waiting for someone else to fix these problems. Let’s look to citizens, and a push for more open government, to get the job done. As the saying goes, sunlight is the best disinfectant of all.

BILL BOLLING TIMES-DISPATCH GUEST COLUMNIST Today marks the beginning of one of the most important, yet underappreciated, weeks of the year: Sunshine Week. While issues such as transportation, health care, and education rightfully grab headlines 51 weeks of the year, public knowledge and understanding of these issues would not be possible without open government and freedom of information. Our Founding Fathers understood that only an open government could effectively meet the needs of those it governed. However, as Virginia's population grew, so did the size of government, which made it more difficult to maintain transparency in government agencies, the elections...

The week of March 13th through the 19th is slated as “Sunshine Week: Your Right To Know” in honor of a week long campaign that is supposed to push for more government ‘openness’. This organized event is lead by the Associated Press and more than 50 news outlets, universities, writing groups and the American Library Association. According to a press release, “The Sunshine in Government Initiative seeks to combat what the groups see as increased government secrecy since the 2001 terrorist attacks. The coalition will lobby for legislation and seek to educate the public about First Amendment issues.” Of course...

Americans feel strongly that good government depends on openness with the public, with seven out of 10 people concerned about government secrecy, a new poll says. The poll, conducted by Ipsos-Public Affairs for Sunshine Week, a coalition of media organizations and other groups pressing for government access, found that more than half of Americans believe government should provide more access to its records. Even more - 70 percent - are either "somewhat concerned" or "very concerned" about government secrecy. Nearly as many felt access to public records was "crucial" to good government. The results come amid growing debate about openness...

Belmont Club History and history in the making Sunday, December 26, 2004 Sunshine Week: Your Right to Know A Belmont Club reader sent a link to the Associated Press Photo Managers site which contains guidance to editors on When to Run a Chilling Photo. The author, Naomi Halperin, begins by describing her reaction to a schoolteacher who balked at showing photographs of mutilated Americans hanging from the Fallujah bridge to her class. One image, seen in many newspapers including The Morning Call, appeared when violence erupted in Fallujah and four American contractors were killed. ... The single letter that...