Sunshine Week

The importance of streamlining agency efforts to fill federal Freedom of Information Act requests was the hot topic at a subcommittee hearing yesterday of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in the U.S. House of Representatives.

High-ranking officials within the Obama administration marked Sunshine Week by touting strides the administration has taken to increase government transparency, but open-government advocates used the weeklong event to point out areas where transparency efforts still fall short.

Two records requests that The (Brockton, Mass.) Enterprise submitted to its city hall in honor of Sunshine Week didn’t turn up quite as bright as the paper had hoped.

City hall officials didn’t respond within the state law-mandated time frame of 10 days, and when they did finally turn over the information, some of it was almost entirely redacted.

The presidential candidates, Congress, the media and individual citizens all have a duty to ensure an open government, said Associated Press President and CEO Tom Curley during a speech Tuesday night at the National Press Club.

"We must do more because the entrenched powers have become far more determined to avoid public scrutiny when it matters most," he told those gathered.

People from different media groups, public offices and non-profits have come together this week to celebrate transparency in government. Below is a short summary of some of the efforts that have been undertaken throughout the country:

Nearly nine out of 10 Americans say knowing presidential and congressional candidates’ positions on open government is important, and three out of four say the government is secretive, according to a survey released March 16.

More than 1,000 adults participated in the phone survey, conducted by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio State University to build up to this week’s Sunshine Week.