Let the Sun Shine In

The American Society of Newspaper Editors and other media organizations are organizing "Sunshine Week" in mid-March, to encourage print, broadcast and online media outlets "to address the issue of a more open government through news coverage, editorials, commentaries, and editorial cartoons." The organizations are "alarmed by a trend toward secrecy at all levels of government." A similar effort, OpenTheGovernment.org, has been launched by dozens of organizations "to advance the public's right to know and to reduce secrecy in the government." The managing director of the PR Consulting Group, which is promoting OpenTheGovernment.org, said, "As Americans concerned about the erosion of our constitutionally protected freedoms, this is a very important client for us."