Perhaps no other political issue receives so little attention, relative to its importance, as open government.
Virtually all candidates, when asked, will say they are big fans of transparency. It’s an easy position to take, a harder one to live up to. But in Wisconsin’s fall elections this year, fidelity to open government as a basic tenet of a democratic society has come up in several races: for governor, attorney general and U.S. Senate.
‘Your Right to Know’: Lack of transparency poses public health risks
By Christa Westerberg, Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council Wisconsin’s open government laws were meant to strengthen our democracy by ensuring an informed electorate. But, sometimes, transparency is about more than democracy—it is about human health, with serious consequences when transparency fails. Earlier this year, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the city of Milwaukee had […]
Marking Journalism’s Annual “Sunshine Week”
Sunshine Week is organized and sponsored by the American Society of News Editors and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, with support from John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and The Gridiron Club and Foundation. It is an annual reminder that “democracies die behind closed doors,” a phrase used by federal judge Damon Keith in […]