EDITORIAL: The sun is shining this week

By: | Inside NoVA
Published: March 14, 2010

This is an updated version of an editorial the News & Messenger printed last year at the start of Sunshine Week.

Every year there is a week when we are called to reflect on our duty to stand vigilant. We are reminded that our government is not an entity independent of us, but one made up of and answerable to us. That week is here; it's called Sunshine Week.

It lasts from March 14 to 20 this year and is spearheaded by the American Society of Newspaper Editors. All sorts of groups participate -- schools, newspapers, nonprofits, civic groups -- and it is all about YOUR right to know.

Sunshine Week is an offshoot of Sunshine Sundays, which began in 2002 in Florida. Legislators there were trying to come up with all sorts of exemptions to public record laws. The Florida Society of Newspaper Editors helped defeat the attempts to get these exemptions enacted by increasing awareness through its Sunshine Sundays. The Sunshine Sunday idea spread to other states and eventually resulted in the first Sunshine Week in March 2005.

It is an important week, because we must not become complacent to a government whose movements sometimes seem impenetrable and complicated.

The government is picked by us from among us to represent us. And any information government has or actions it takes should be almost fully transparent to the people.

So, in an effort to highlight the need for open government, we will be including periodic information re-lated to Sunshine Week in the days ahead.

We hope you will turn to the editorial page this week and find some encouragement for holding your gov-ernment accountable.