Sunshine Week, which began Sunday, is an annual observance focusing attention on the openness (or lack thereof) of government, sponsored by the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
And, honestly, the push for transparency in government is a cause close to the heart of all journalists. However, transparent government is a keystone in the very structure of democracy. No more so than now. The Internet, social networking and blogs makes it much easier for all Americans to directly engage in political commentary and debate. It would be nice if that discourse were informed by substantiated facts, rather than fueled by distortions from the echo chamber of half-truths that originated who-knows-where?
The push for open records received a substantial boost in Pennsylvania in 2009 when the commonwealth’s open records law was turned on its head. In the bad old days, government records were only considered public if statutes explicitly described them as open for review. An overhaul of the open records law — emboldened by voter disgust over corruption and backroom-dealing in Harrisburg — reversed the policy. The tide has turned, but the struggle is far from won. Government agencies seem to have an innate bias against communicating with the people who pay the bills. Because it is your money, they work for you. Nationally, when the Obama Administration swept into office, the president pledged a new era of openness. An audit released this week shows that bureaucrats unaccustomed to transparency have not always embraced the change.
Fewer than a third of the 90 federal agencies that process requests for information have made significant changes in their practices since Obama’s initial orders, the report said.
The formula is simple: Transparency equals accountability. Yvonne Morgan, of Lewisburg, understood this when she employed Pennsylvania’s revamped Open Records Law to obtain e-mails between Union County commissioners discussing a proposal for the county to assume control of a rail-trail project.
The county scuttled any plans for a rail-trail takeover after Morgan brought the discussions to light.
The message her success conveys to elected officials may be just as important — the public is watching and empowered.
