Potomac News: Let the sun shine in!
Let the sun shine in!
Published: March 16, 2008
http://www.insidenova.com/isn/news/opinion/article/let_the_sun_shine_in/5438/
As the song goes, "Let the sun shine, let the sun shine in."
That is what this week is all about. March 16 through 22 is Sunshine Week.
This is a time when groups across the country try to start a conversation with the community about how important it is to have freedom of information and open government.
And so, let us begin that conversation with you, now.
This week, we will be running a series of editorials about the impact that the free flow of information has on you.
In a representative democracy, information is everything. If the public does not have what it needs to make educated decisions at the polls, then there can be no democracy.
The government is run by the people for the people, but this becomes less and less true if the government gets to control the flow of information. If the public does not know, then it can have no say.
Sunshine Week was started by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors in 2002. It began as Sunshine Sunday. The society started the event because Florida legislators were trying to create many new exemptions to the state’s public records laws.
About 300 of those exemptions were shot down in the legislature following three Sunshine Sundays.
The event began to spread across the country and in March 2005, the first national Sunshine Week occurred.
So, we invite you to be curious this week about your right to know what your government is doing. Stay tuned to our paper and see what we have to say and feel free to comment online or to send us your thoughts via letters to the editor.
Published: March 16, 2008
http://www.insidenova.com/isn/news/opinion/article/let_the_sun_shine_in/5438/
As the song goes, "Let the sun shine, let the sun shine in."
That is what this week is all about. March 16 through 22 is Sunshine Week.
This is a time when groups across the country try to start a conversation with the community about how important it is to have freedom of information and open government.
And so, let us begin that conversation with you, now.
This week, we will be running a series of editorials about the impact that the free flow of information has on you.
In a representative democracy, information is everything. If the public does not have what it needs to make educated decisions at the polls, then there can be no democracy.
The government is run by the people for the people, but this becomes less and less true if the government gets to control the flow of information. If the public does not know, then it can have no say.
Sunshine Week was started by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors in 2002. It began as Sunshine Sunday. The society started the event because Florida legislators were trying to create many new exemptions to the state’s public records laws.
About 300 of those exemptions were shot down in the legislature following three Sunshine Sundays.
The event began to spread across the country and in March 2005, the first national Sunshine Week occurred.
So, we invite you to be curious this week about your right to know what your government is doing. Stay tuned to our paper and see what we have to say and feel free to comment online or to send us your thoughts via letters to the editor.
