Eau Claire will be one of eight state cities to host an informational tour highlighting the importance of Wisconsin’s open records law in the wake of unprecedented attacks from state lawmakers and others.
The three-day “Open Government Traveling Show” will visit Eau Claire on Tuesday, March 15, for a program at 7 p.m. in Room 1614 of Centennial Hall on the UW-Eau Claire campus. The tour, which will run from Mar. 15-17, is part of national Sunshine Week, an annual event designed to focus attention on access to public information. It is sponsored nationally by the American Society of News Editors and by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
The local program is sponsored by the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram and the UW-EC chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. The event is free and open to the public.
The 90-minute program will feature a tutorial on the records law and examples of its use by journalists and advocates. It is aimed at helping Wisconsin residents understand the open records law and how to use it.
“An open society depends on open government. Wisconsin residents understand that,” said Mark Pitsch, president of the Madison chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and an assistant city editor at the Wisconsin State Journal.
“Last summer’s attempt to gut the records law is just one of several recent examples of official disregard for the public’s right to know,” he added. “It’s time for education and vigilance.”
Participants in the tour will include representatives of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, the Madison chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, the Center for Media and Democracy, the MacIver Institute for Public Policy and the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. The tour is also supported by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism (WCIJ).
In addition to Eau Claire, the tour will visit La Crosse, Wausau, Green Bay, Appleton, Sheboygan, Waukesha and Janesville.
Andy Hall, executive director of the nonpartisan and nonprofit WCIJ, called the tour an “effort to strengthen the public’s understanding and use of open records laws, which are essential to our democracy.” The WCIJ is housed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
For further information, contact: Mark Pitsch at (608) 252-6145 or Bill Lueders at (608) 669-4712.