Latest news with #SunshineSunday
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
On foam bunny heads and sunshine (week) greeting cards
Search for 'SUNSHINE WEEK GREETING CARD' and Google — with all of its exuberance for artificial intelligence smarty-pantsness — ignores you like an Aggies fan showing up at a Lobos watch party. AI might be the now and future — but not when it comes to celebrating the public's right to know. Your browser's search results offer images of sun faces with Mona Lisa smiles; hand-drawn sunflowers in bloom; and a list of suggested questions people ask, such as 'Are greeting cards still a thing?' So, if you're celebrating Sunshine Week, don't bother hitting the greeting cards aisle. None of the business operators on the Plaza are selling T-shirts of James Madison framed by chile pepper ristras. And if you walk into Michaels arts and crafts store, you'll spot large bunny heads made of pink foam and fake sunflowers perfect for occasional dusting. But large sun heads in yellow foam emblazoned with the slogan: 'SHINE A LIGHT ON THE FIRST AMENDMENT!' ... nowhere. Nada. Not even on the shelves filled with 14,986 foam shapes. The future of democracy may be in the public mind, but we're not even an art project. Regardless of your perception, I like to believe journalists are well-intended romantics who don't know how to quit. Instead of delving in darkness, we're trying to shine a light. Sunshine Week may not be worthy of greeting cards or your local arts and crafts store, but it has existed for 20 years to 'educate the public, journalists, lawmakers, and others on the right to know in the U.S. states and federal government,' according to The Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications has kept Sunshine Week top of mind for those who care about democracy's complexities, thanks to a John S. and James L. Knight Foundation endowment. The impetus for Sunshine Week began in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001. Florida editors, notably Tim Franklin of the Orlando Sentinel, noticed how government agencies were making public records less available or exempt from viewing. The first Sunshine Sunday happened March 16, 2002, honoring the birthdate of Bill of Rights author James Madison (sans ristras). From 'The goal was simple but impactful: raise awareness around the need for open government and our right to know.' Sunshine Week then launched in 2005. During those 20 years, the United States has lost more than a third of its printed newspapers, according to the 2024 State of Local News Report from Northwestern University. (Franklin now serves as a senior associate dean, professor and John M. Mutz Chair in Local News at Northwestern.) Here's another way to understand the consequences, especially if you're following what's happening in Washington, D.C. Research from Northwestern's Local News Initiative showed President Donald Trump dominated news deserts during the 2024 presidential election, winning 91% of the counties with no professional source of local news. What's happened nationally has also made New Mexico less enchanting for those who care about the public's right to know. Since 2005, the number of New Mexico journalists has decreased more than 60%. Five counties in New Mexico have no news outlets, Yet, even in this so-called blue state, lawmakers during the 2025 session proposed several bills that would have significantly gutted the state's Inspection of Public Records Act. No wonder Sunshine Week doesn't have a greeting card with a sunny face. All of us are shopping in the deep-sympathy section. Did I mention that journalists — and that goes for anyone who believes in democracy — are well-intended romantics who don't know how to quit? If anything, we need a moment. A John-Cusack-in-awesome-trenchcoat-with-raised-boombox moment that blares Peter Gabriel's 'In Your Eyes,' because the relationship we have with elected officials should be deeply attuned to the public's interests. Instead of a full-length love story, the public seems stuck in a reality show where those who ask questions get fired. It would be illuminating if Sunshine Week didn't need to be an annual reminder of the public transparency we've lost. Democracy should be less a battle about access and more of an everyday right to know. Locally owned news organizations can make a difference. The public's support is essential. Informed voters matter. I believe this because Santa Fe New Mexican subscribers are consistent in both praise and critiques about our accountability and investigative stories. For that, we thank you. You've been our sunshine.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tennessee coalition celebrates 20 years of Sunshine Week, promoting government transparency
This year marks the 20th anniversary of Sunshine Week celebrated nationally to promote the importance of open government at the federal, state and local levels. The idea was born more than 20 years ago when Florida newspaper editors started Sunshine Sunday to highlight the need for government transparency. By 2005, it grew to a full week of open government advocacy nationwide. The annual collaboration now is coordinated by the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications. About 100 organizations representing news media, public interest groups, and open government advocates have endorsed Sunshine Week. The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government (TCOG) and the Tennessee Press Association (TPA) are among those organizations. TPA, which was founded more than 150 years ago to support the newspaper industry, played a key role in launching TCOG in 2003 because its leaders and open government advocates realized the public needed a unified voice to protect and strengthen open government laws. As Jack McElroy, former editor of the Knoxville New Sentinel and a TCOG board member, wrote in his history of the organization, TCOG 'is recognized statewide, by citizens and public officials alike, as Tennessee's pre-eminent source of expertise and advocacy for the public's right to know.' Sunshine Week celebrates its 20th anniversary at a time when efforts to weaken or circumvent open government laws are growing and public trust in the news media and traditional institutions has eroded. Two of Tennessee's top investigative journalists say more transparency, not less, is needed. Marc Perrusquia heads The Institute for Public Service Reporting at the University of Memphis, which was created in 2018. He worked the previous 29 years as a reporter with The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, uncovering corruption in the state's taxpayer-funded child care system, excessive use of force by police, and consumer gouging by car title lenders, to name just a few. 'Transparency and freedom of information are under assault at every level of government, from Washington, where executive overreach is usurping legislative authority with little or no scrutiny by elected lawmakers, to Nashville, where the governor and state legislators have created a new immigration enforcement office that is exempt from the state public records law, to Memphis, where reporters often wait weeks, months and sometimes years to gain access to public records,' he said. 'Now, more than ever, we need a vigorous press to challenge these encroachments on democratic principles and their accompanying currents of disinformation. We need an engaged electorate, enlightened by readily flowing, reliable information that only a free and independent news media can provide.' Phil Williams, an investigative reporter for WTVF-TV in Nashville, has spent much of his 40-year career uncovering corruption at the state and local level and confronting many of society's critical issues, including hate groups and conspiracy theory movements like QAnon. 'In an age when there is such intense distrust in government, transparency is the antidote that is desperately needed … I am increasingly finding that citizens are willing to embrace conspiracy theories about government that are completely divorced from reality,' Williams said. 'The best hope for combating disinformation and misinformation is for government to be completely open about what it's doing and why.' Tennessee is one of the few states where an open-government group has paid staff to educate the public and policymakers about the right to know, and research shows an active coalition is correlated with better government, said David Cuillier, director of the Brechner project, which coordinates Sunshine Week. Now, more than ever, we need a vigorous press to challenge these encroachments on democratic principles and their accompanying currents of disinformation. We need an engaged electorate, enlightened by readily flowing, reliable information that only a free and independent news media can provide. – Marc Perrusquia, The Institute for Public Service Reporting These organizations across the country struggle financially, Cuillier said. 'It's critical for community foundations and philanthropy to keep TCOG strong, because if Tennessee loses TCOG, it could very well lose government accountability,' In recent years, TCOG has worked with lawmakers to: Require city and county legislative bodies to produce accurate and complete public agendas at least 48 hours before any meeting. Allow citizens to recover attorney costs in certain cases when they win an open meetings lawsuit. Assure that future exceptions to the Public Records Act are fully scrutinized by requiring review by the House Government Operations Committee. TCOG, like similar state public advocacy groups, is a non-profit that receives no government funding and relies entirely on contributions from news organizations, citizen groups and individuals. TCOG's budget pays for one part-time employee. With the General Assembly currently in full swing, that lone employee, TCOG executive director Deborah Fisher, is at Capitol every week keeping tabs on legislation that could weaken open government laws and working to strengthen public transparency. During the year, Fisher fields scores of inquiries from journalists and citizens needing guidance and conducts training sessions for journalists and government officials alike about public record and open meeting laws. It's important work that the public should support, said Frank Gibson, a former Tennessean editor who led the effort to create TCOG in 2003 and served as its executive director until 2011. 'Changes in the news media and political landscapes make it necessary for citizens to be better informed and aware of attempts to close information about their government,' Gibson said. 'Supporting groups like the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government is a good way keep the public informed and to protect freedom.' Adam Yeomans is vice president of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government and the former South regional director for The Associated Press based in Nashville. He can be reached atadamyeomans@
Miami Herald
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
The sun is setting on government transparency in Florida
Florida, the 'Sunshine State,' once known as a beacon of government transparency, is growing ever darker, and the clouds are spreading throughout the United States. From March 16-22, 2025, the nation celebrates the 20th anniversary of national Sunshine Week, which originated in Florida, historically home to the most transparent and accountable governments in the country. Times have changed. At the University of Florida Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project, my colleagues and I have researched and taught about the freedom of information since 1977. We monitor the state of open, accountable government, and our research findings do not bode well for democracy — in Florida and throughout the U.S. But first, let's look back to sunnier days. Sun rises Florida enacted its first version of a public records law in 1909, the sixth state to do so. The movement was led by Nebraska in 1866 and Montana in 1895. Florida's law was repealed in the 1950s and then returned in 1967 as the Sunshine Law. 'Sunshine' was equated with the state's nickname but also the concept of government transparency — lighting the dark recesses of secrecy. The Sunshine Law also played on a famous quote by former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis that 'Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman.' Something unique happened in Florida then. Transparency took hold. Journalists such as Pete Weitzel at the Miami Herald pushed hard for governments to operate more transparently, building momentum through the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. They and other media groups helped launch, with $11,000, the Florida Freedom of Information Clearinghouse in 1977 at the University of Florida. The journalism college assigned a professor and grad student to monitor public record denials, open meeting closures and court cases, and to alert newspaper editors to secrecy legislation. This effort created a culture of transparency, including among elected leaders. Journalists successfully pushed for a constitutional amendment in the early 1990s, which required transparency across the state and required a two-thirds vote from the state Legislature to adopt exemptions to the law. The nonprofit Florida First Amendment Foundation was launched in 1985 to promote government transparency and hired its first paid employee, Barbara Petersen, in 1995, to monitor secrecy legislation, train public employees and aid people trying to get information. The organization banded with the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors to create Sunshine Sunday each March to promote the right to know. This event went national in 2005 as Sunshine Week. All these factors led Florida to become known as the most transparent state in the nation. Increasing clouds Fast forward to 2025, and we see an entirely different climate in Florida. The decline of newspapers has meant fewer reporters pushing for records, fewer editors advocating for transparency, and fewer owners suing government agencies. Copy charges related to getting public records create barriers for average citizens. Research shows that providing fee waivers would increase accessibility without significant costs. Through the years, legislators became emboldened to pass more exemptions to the Florida Sunshine Law — more than 1,100 and growing. Some of those exemptions were focused on protecting personal privacy — for example, in reaction to journalists requesting the autopsy file of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt after his 2001 death. Fear of terrorists following 9/11 led to a flurry of exemptions, such as hiding records about crop dusters to prevent al-Qaida from hijacking planes to spread anthrax. Companies profiting from public records sparked another backlash. For example, some companies acquired public mugshots, posted them online and allowed people to have them removed for a price. Some attorneys gamed the fee-shifting provision, submitting public record requests that would be difficult to fulfill, suing immediately and then settling with agencies for thousands of dollars. Elected leaders turned against transparency, Petersen, who now directs the Florida Center for Government Accountability, told me recently. One of the prominent examples she points to is Gov. Ron DeSantis' refusal to disclose his travel expense records. I hear it every week — calls from journalists and others stymied by state and local government agencies. They often cite high copy fees for public records, claims of exemptions and outright ghosting by agencies. One reporter encountered Miami city commissioners sworn in at a private ceremony. Another challenged Tallahassee police refusing to provide information about an officer-involved shooting. A college journalism student was told she had to pay $1,665 for records about Florida dams that could fail and ended up pleading with the government to 'free the dam records.' Not just Florida Florida is reflective of a national trend — a secrecy creep spreading throughout the country, culminating in transparency deserts in cities big and small. The U.S. is losing its reputation as a leader in open, accountable government. Its federal Freedom of Information Act, often known as FOIA, ranks 78th in strength out of 140 nations, and continuously drops as new countries adopt better laws. An information commissioner from Africa told me a few months ago that he and his colleagues laugh at the United States' weak FOIA law, referring to it as a 'toothless poodle.' On average, according to our research, if you asked for a public record in America 10 years ago, you would get it about half the time. Even the U.S. Department of Justice's own statistics show a similar decline in full release of records, and the average response time has nearly doubled over the same period, from 21 to 40 days. What happens when compliance reaches 0%? Aside from the ramifications on democracy itself, every American will feel the pain in their pocketbooks and everyday lives. Studies show that public record laws lead to cleaner drinking water, safer restaurants, better-informed school choice, less corruption, saved tax dollars and a lower chance of sex offenders reoffending. According to Stanford economist James Hamilton, for every dollar spent on public-records journalism, society benefits $287 in saved lives and more efficient government. Some transparency advocates have raised the alarm on actions taken by the new Trump administration, such as the removal of agency websites, the firing of FOIA staff and the dismantling of the Open Government Federal Advisory Committee. It is likely these efforts will escalate the secrecy creep and allow it to trickle down to the state and local levels. It is important to note, though, that declining transparency is a long-term trend that transcends any one president or political party. The federal government reached its absolute low in full compliance with FOIA last year, under the Biden administration. It's easy to point fingers at one politician, but perhaps wiser to look at the entire system, which many scholars say is broken and should be reimagined. Nonprofit groups have filled some of the gap, and independent online news sites are growing and enforcing public record laws. But will it be enough? Ultimately, it is up to the citizenry. If the people don't cherish and demand transparent government, then the politicians certainly won't, whether in Florida or the rest of the country. David Cuillier is director of the Brechner Freedom of Information Project, College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida. This article was first published in The Conversation.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Transparent, open government is vital. That's why Sunshine Week still matters.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of Sunshine Week celebrated nationally to promote the importance of open government at the federal, state and local levels. The idea was born more than 20 years ago when Florida newspaper editors started Sunshine Sunday to highlight the need for government transparency. By 2005, it grew to a full week of open government advocacy nationwide. The annual collaboration now is coordinated by the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications. This year's celebration is March 16-22. About 100 organizations representing news media, public interest groups, and open government advocates have endorsed Sunshine Week. The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government (TCOG) and the Tennessee Press Association (TPA) are among those organizations. TPA, which was founded more than 150 years ago to support the newspaper industry, played a key role in launching TCOG in 2003 because its leaders and open government advocates realized the public needed a unified voice to protect and strengthen open government laws. As Jack McElroy, former editor of the Knoxville News Sentinel and a TCOG board member, wrote in his history of the organization, TCOG 'is recognized statewide, by citizens and public officials alike, as Tennessee's pre-eminent source of expertise and advocacy for the public's right to know.' Sunshine Week celebrates its 20th anniversary at a time when efforts to weaken or circumvent open government laws are growing and public trust in the news media and traditional institutions has eroded. Two of Tennessee's top investigative journalists say more transparency, not less, is needed. Marc Perrusquia heads The Institute for Public Service Reporting at the University of Memphis, which was created in 2018. He worked the previous 29 years as a reporter with The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, uncovering corruption in the state's taxpayer-funded child care system, excessive use of force by police, and consumer gouging by car title lenders, to name just a few. "Transparency and freedom of information are under assault at every level of government, from Washington, where executive overreach is usurping legislative authority with little or no scrutiny by elected lawmakers, to Nashville, where the governor and state legislators have created a new immigration enforcement office that is exempt from the state public records law, to Memphis, where reporters often wait weeks, months and sometimes years to gain access to public records,' he said. 'Now, more than ever, we need a vigorous press to challenge these encroachments on democratic principles and their accompanying currents of disinformation. We need an engaged electorate, enlightened by readily flowing, reliable information that only a free and independent news media can provide.'' Phil Williams, an investigative reporter for WTVF-TV in Nashville, has spent much of his 40-year career uncovering corruption at the state and local level and confronting many of society's critical issues, including hate groups and conspiracy theory movements like QAnon. 'In an age when there is such intense distrust in government, transparency is the antidote that is desperately needed … I am increasingly finding that citizens are willing to embrace conspiracy theories about government that are completely divorced from reality,' Williams said. Brad Schmitt: Bob Mueller, Lelan Statom, Holly Thompson and other news vets on stories that most moved them 'The best hope for combating disinformation and misinformation is for government to be completely open about what it's doing and why.' Tennessee is one of the few states where an open-government group has paid staff to educate the public and policymakers about their right to know, and research shows an active coalition is correlated with better government, said David Cuillier, director of the Brechner project, which coordinates Sunshine Week. These organizations across the country struggle financially, Cuillier said. 'It's critical for community foundations and philanthropy to keep TCOG strong, because if Tennessee loses TCOG, it could very well lose government accountability,' In recent years, TCOG has worked with lawmakers to: Require city and county legislative bodies to produce accurate and complete public agendas at least 48 hours before any meeting. Allow citizens to recover attorney costs in certain cases when they win an open meetings lawsuit. Assure that future exceptions to the Public Records Act are fully scrutinized by requiring review by the House Government Operations Committee. TCOG, like similar state public advocacy groups, is a nonprofit that receives no government funding and relies entirely on contributions from news organizations, citizen groups and individuals. TCOG's budget pays for one part-time employee. With the General Assembly currently in full swing, that lone employee, TCOG executive director Deborah Fisher, is at the Capitol every week keeping tabs on legislation that could weaken open government laws and working to strengthen public transparency. During the year, Fisher fields scores of inquiries from journalists and citizens needing guidance and conducts training sessions for journalists and government officials alike about public record and open meeting laws. It's important work that the public should support, said Frank Gibson, a former Tennessean editor who led the effort to create TCOG in 2003 and served as its executive director until 2011. 'Changes in the news media and political landscapes make it necessary for citizens to be better informed and aware of attempts to close information about their government,' Gibson said. 'Supporting groups like the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government is a good way keep the public informed and to protect freedom.' Adam Yeomans is vice president of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government and the former South regional director for The Associated Press based in Nashville. He can be reached at adamyeomans@ EDITOR'S NOTE: You can donate to TCOG and/or sign up for its free newsletter at to receive updates about open government issues in Tennessee. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Government works best for citizens when it is transparent | Opinion
