It’s Sunshine Week

It’s Sunshine Week, campers.

From Editor And Publisher:

CHICAGO: By large margins, Americans believe the federal government has become secretive — and that its agents are probably spying on journalists.

A survey released Sunday by the organizers of Sunshine Week, March 16-22 found that 74% of the 1,000-plus American adults polled in February view the federal government as very or somewhat secretive. That’s an increase from a Sunshine Week survey two years ago that found 62% felt that way.

Three-quarters of American adults view the federal government as secretive, and nearly nine in 10 say it’s important to know presidential and congressional candidates’ positions on open government when deciding who to vote for, according to a Sunshine Week survey by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University.

The survey shows a significant increase over the past three years in the percentage of Americans who believe the federal government is very or somewhat secretive, from 62 percent of those surveyed in 2006 to 74 percent in 2008.

Here’s what’s going thus far in Tennessee:

Slated during Sunshine Week 2008, Austin Peay State University’s third Library Athenaeum will focus on this national initiative designed to start public dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information.
At 2 p.m., Tuesday, March 18 on the third floor of Woodward Library, Melony Jones, communication specialist in the Office of Public Relations and Marketing, will give a talk titled “Spreading Sunshine: Right-to-Know Laws Must Hold Strong” for the Library Athenaeum.
“Though spearheaded by journalists, Sunshine Week is about the public’s right to know what its government is doing and why,” Jones said. “The goal of Sunshine Week is to enlighten and empower people to play an active role in their government and to give them access to information that makes their lives better and their communities stronger.”

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