Each year since 1940, the Newspaper Association managers from across the country have sponsored National Newspaper Week. This year the week is being commemorated Oct. 7-13.
The event provides a chance to talk again about the importance of open government. It is an issue close to the heart of those in the press. It should be important to you too.
If a reporter cannot get into a government meeting, you cannot. If a reporter cannot see a government document, you cannot.
Those in the press often request information that normal people do not have the time to seek. You may rely on newspaper reporters to check public records or attend government meetings. That is your prerogative. Hopefully, you will attend a government meeting to speak your piece if an important issue arises. It is a right too few people use. If no one complains, elected officials will understandably believe their actions have the blessing of their constituents. If you disagree with the plans of your elected officials you should let them know.
But how do you find out what proposals are pending? Through the public notices included in the classified section of the newspaper. Public notices are the often-overlooked sister of open records and open meetings. All three are vital to the public's ability to monitor the activities of the government. Through public notices, governments are required to publish information about meetings or proposed laws. The requirement ensures that those who are interested are alerted about planned actions.
Pennsylvania's Sunshine laws are weak. Until the laws are reformed, the vigilance of the press and informed taxpayers will be the most effective means of ensuring political decisions are made in plain view.
Opinion
Newspaper week reminds us of need for openness in government
- Opinion
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Good-paying jobs
I am writing in response to comments made by several lawmakers and certain media regarding people receiving unemployment compensation not searching for employment but only wanting extensions.
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Economy is tough but still pay rises
It was my first time attending a Lewisburg School Board meeting last night. I went to hear public comment on the Boards recent decision to extend the Superintendents contract, which included a 20-plus percent pay raise.
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Sunbury has a lot to offer
I would like to respond to the letter writer that inferred that Sunbury was a pretty package with nothing inside.
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Mutual aid is necessary
Mutual aid agreements in local law enforcement strike at the heart of basic small-town decency. When a neighbor is in need, those equipped to help ought to drop everything and spring to aid.
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Lifting me higher
I am not a winner of a Pulitzer Prize, nor am I an author of best selling novels, I'm just a human being attempting to live life here on earth with purpose and I can find no greater way to do that than through my faith and my belief in God.
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Understaffing
I read with interest your article regarding police mutual aid in Northumberland County.
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Carney, Marino ought to get focused on issues
U.S. Rep. Chris Carney and Tom Marino ought to focus on the issues in the upcoming campaign for Congress.
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Blatantly unfair
The Pennsylvania Republican Party is supporting an effort to strike third-party candidates from the general election ballot in November.
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Fiscal responsibility
This editorial letter is only the second such letter I have been moved to pen in my lifetime.
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Schools need a little help from home
Milton High School failed to meet its adequate yearly progress under Pennsylvania's version of the federal No Child Left Behind because one student did not show up for the standardized test.
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Good-paying jobs
