Sunshine Week 2013: March 10 – March 16

Sunshine Week 2013

We'll post Sunshine Week news as it happens. Contact us with your Sunshine Week news here.

Image of Sunshine Week -- Your Right to KnowSunshine Week is a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. (See more about the new Sunshine Week website.)

With an inaugural grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which has continued to support the effort, Sunshine Week was launched by the American Society of News Editors in March 2005. This non-partisan, non-profit initiative is celebrated in mid-March each year to coincide with James Madison’s birthday on March 16.

In 2011, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press joined ASNE as a national co-coordinator of Sunshine Week, enabling the organizations to join forces and resources to produce Toolkit materials for participants and keep the website and social media sites engaged.

Sunshine Week seeks to enlighten and empower people to play an active role in their government at all levels, and to give them access to information that makes their lives better and their communities stronger.

Participants include news media, government officials at all levels, schools and universities, libraries and archives, individuals, non-profit and civic organizations, historians and anyone with an interest in open government.

Everyone can be a part of Sunshine Week. Our coalition of supporters is broad and deep. And individual participation can make all the difference, as evidenced by our Local Heroes awards.

The only requirement is that you do something to engage in a discussion about the importance of open government. It could be a large public forum or a classroom discussion, an article or series of articles about access to important information, or an editorial.

Visit Sunshineweek.org for more about what you can do to get involved. Also find a list of and links to articles and editorials about and in recognition of Sunshine Week 2013 and the events and observances that are being held in the states at Sunshine Week 2013 News, which we will update throughout Sunshine Week.

You might also enjoy coverage of news and events from Sunshine Week 2012 and Sunshine Week 2011, as well.

And don't forget: Nominations for the The State Open Government Hall of Fame are due by March 15.

Sunshine Week 2013 is made possible thanks to the generous support of Bloomberg LP and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.