Sunshine Week shines a light on government

Annual Freedom of Information event to be celebrated March 12-18

By Wesley Brown

Sunshine Week, which shines a light on local, state and national government, runs March 12-18 this year. But, the annual initiative comes as many Arkansas reporters and news organizations are dealing with open government dilemmas.

Sunshine Week was launched in 2005 by the American Society of News Editors — now News Leaders Association — and has grown into an enduring initiative to promote open government.

As national co-sponsors of Sunshine Week, the News Leaders Association and the Society of Professional Journalists provide information about freedom of information, free materials for participants and a calendar of events already planned around the nation.

In Arkansas, the board of the Arkansas Pro Chapter of the SPJ recently sent a letter to the Conway School Board concerning the school district’s efforts to block citizens and journalists from attending and observing their deliberations.

The letter urges Conway School Board President Andre Acklin and Superintendent Jeff Collum to move school board meetings to a larger venue when the number of attendees exceeds the capacity of a regular meeting room. SPJ Vice President Sonny Albarado wrote the two-page letter, which was signed by the organization’s board members.

“We believe that preventing journalists or any citizen from observing a public body’s deliberations in person violates the spirit, if not the intent, of Arkansas’s Freedom of Information Act,” wrote Albarado, editor-in-chief at Arkansas Advocate and a longtime SPJ national board member.

In response to Albarado’s letter, Collum reassured the Arkansas SPJ that the Faulkner County school district would comply with the FOIA and ensure that media had access to board meetings. The Conway School Board has garnered state and national attention due to its recent controversial policies involving Black History Month and efforts to draft new rules on bathroom use and overnight stays based on a student’s assigned gender.

We have a responsibilit y to you, our readers. It is our job to question authorit y, that mat ter most We are watchdogs who advocate for accountabilit y and transparenc y

As we obser ve Sunshine Week, we celebrate why freedom of information through an open government is a bedrock of democrac y Information belongs public from this constitutional right. You deser ve no less. March 12-18, 2023