Sunshine Week 2008 Hits the Campaign Trail: Candidates from President to Mayor to...

Sunshine Week 2008 Hits the Campaign Trail: Candidates from President toMayor to Be Quizzed on Access IssuesActors, Scientists, Researchers Join Growing Call for Open GovernmentWASHINGTON, Nov. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Sunshine Week alliance hasbegun a yearlong Sunshine Campaign project to bring the discussion of opengovernment issues to election campaigns from president to local city council.While the initiative expands the scope of Sunshine Week to cover the entireelection season, specific events and coverage are still planned for SunshineWeek, March 16-22, 2008.Sunshine Week is a non-partisan open government initiative led by the AmericanSociety of Newspaper Editors, with online and broadcast media, publicofficials, celebrities, civic groups, non-profits, libraries, schools,religious leaders and others. It is primarily funded by a challenge grant fromthe John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.The Sunshine Campaign is designed to spur campaign conversation -- andcommitment -- to open government during the presidential race and continuingon through to city council contests. Journalists, and anyone else with theopportunity, are encouraged to ask every candidate for public office toexplain his or her positions on open government and Freedom of Informationissues.The replies, sent in to Sunshine Week by participants and observers, will beused to develop a database of presidential statements, positions, votes andviews across a variety of open government issues as a running reference.Independent research on previous statements, votes and other availablerelevant FOI data also will be in the database.During one of its initial Sunshine Campaign activities, Sunshine Week teamedwith The Creative Coalition to discuss open government issues at the recentDemocratic presidential candidates' debate in Las Vegas. Among those attending a dinner co-sponsored by The Creative Coalition andSunshine Week were Coalition co-president and actor Joe Pantoliano andactors/members Tim Daly, Kerry Washington, James Denton, Matthew Modine andRichard Schiff. Other guests included Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist;Eric Alterman, author and columnist for The Nation; and writer, producer andpundit Lawrence O'Donnell Jr.Sunshine Week and The Creative Coalition are exploring opportunities topartner for other activities promoting government transparency during the 2008presidential campaign."Open government is the very essence of our democracy. We're proud to partnerwith Sunshine Week to ensure that every citizen has access to information andthe ability to express their First Amendment right to free speech," said RobinBronk, executive director of The Creative Coalition.Sunshine Week also has sent a questionnaire on a variety of open governmentissues has been sent to the campaign offices of the 16 leading Democratic andRepublican candidates. They have been asked to respond by mid-December.Answers will be posted on the Sunshine Week Web site as they are received.Promotional materials featuring Sunshine Campaign "spokesmammals" Ronnie andDonnie (representing a Republican elephant and Democratic donkey) will beavailable to participants. Sunshine Campaign items will include print and Webads, T-shirts and other clothing, buttons, campaign yard signs and stickers.Resources such as suggested questions and links to additional material to helpget people involved in the project are on the Sunshine Week Web site,www.sunshineweek.org.Significant support for the Sunshine Campaign's online database of candidates'positions on open government is being provided by the National SecurityArchive at George Washington University. In 2007, the Archive's Mexico Projectoversaw the launch of Mexico Abierto, a media initiative modeled on SunshineWeek. Now, the candidate database is being built with the help of theproject's transparency coordinator, Emilene Martinez-Morales, and it willserve as a model for a similar issues database in Mexico."The Sunshine Campaign Website is an important tool that will keep the publicinformed about where candidates stand on openness before they take office,allowing voters to make an informed choice," said Martinez-Morales. "It is aneffort that can serve as a model to monitor all kinds of campaigns, frompresidential to local city council, not only in the United States but in othercountries as well."Sunshine Week also is working with Project Vote Smart, which has includedquestions specific to open government on its Political Courage Test, anon-partisan survey sent to every candidate regarding his or her position on avariety of issues. Only three of the leading presidential candidates -- Chris Dodd, John Edwardsand Mike Gravel -- have responded to the survey, despite repeated efforts bynews organizations, prominent members of the Project Vote Smart board andothers to compel a reply."This test demonstrated the obvious relationship between exploding campaignfinancing, candidates' ability to control their messages and the public's lossof access to information," said Project Vote Smart President Richard Kimball.Project Vote Smart has seen participation in its survey of federal candidatesdrop from 72 percent in 1968 to 48 percent in 2006.Project Vote Smart also is helping to ensure openness in government byproviding detailed accounts of legislation passed by Congress and all 50 statelegislatures, as well as an in-depth database of public statements made bycandidates and elected officials from across the nation. The information canbe found online at www.votesmart.org."In a time where elected officials are determined to stonewall the public,hopefully it will provide comfort to the citizens of the country to know thatthere are people who are committed to ensuring that there is openness andhonesty in government," Kimball said.Other Sunshine Campaign efforts underway include:

-- Channel OneNetwork will distribute 250,000 teacher guide-posters for its-- Channel OneNetwork will distribute 250,000 teacher guide-posters for its"1Voice" First Amendment project that includes an article about celebratingSunshine Week 2008. The poster explains Sunshine Week and points to why opengovernment matters to teachers and students. To further highlight theimportance of open government to teens, Channel One News will produce and aira "1Voice" segment centered on this critical topic, scheduled to air inconjunction with Sunshine Week.

-- The Coalition of Journalists for Open Government is conducting research on-- The Coalition of Journalists for Open Government is conducting research onjournalists' difficulties in obtaining public information from the federalgovernment. Topline results, and possibly the complete report, will bereleased during Sunshine Week 2008. CJOG Coordinator Pete Weitzel also servesas a member of Sunshine Week's executive committee.

-- College Media Advisers recently invited Sunshine Week to speak about the-- College Media Advisers recently invited Sunshine Week to speak about theSunshine Campaign during a breakout session at its annual convention inWashington, and will continue to communicate Campaign updates to its members.CMA Executive Director Ron Spielberger is serving as college coordinator forSunshine Week 2008.

-- The First Amendment Center will host its 10th annual National Freedom of-- The First Amendment Center will host its 10th annual National Freedom ofInformation Day at the Freedom Forum's Newseum in Washington on the Fridayleading up to Sunshine Week. Speakers will include J. William Leonard, formerdirector of the Information Security Oversight Office.

-- The League of Women Voters will again co-sponsor an access discussion-- The League of Women Voters will again co-sponsor an access discussionorganized by OpenTheGovernment.org that will be webcast from The NationalPress Club during Sunshine Week, and it is encouraging local Leagues to joinwith libraries and others to watch the program and engage in localconversations on the issues. In addition, local Leagues are encouraged notonly to hold other Sunshine Week events, but also to include opengovernment-related questions in state and local debates and in their voterguides.

-- The Executive Committee of the National Conference of Editorial Writers-- The Executive Committee of the National Conference of Editorial Writerspassed a resolution urging its members to ask candidates about open governmentissues in meetings with candidates. NCEW which does not make institutionalendorsements, said that, "At the least, raising the issue during the limitedtime of an endorsement interview will demonstrate to candidates that weconsider open government to be a priority." NCEW's Open Government Committeewill act as a clearinghouse for information about the Sunshine Campaignbetween members and the Sunshine Week team.

-- The National Freedom of Information Coalition is working with its members-- The National Freedom of Information Coalition is working with its membersto coordinate activities of state FOI coalitions across the country, includingidentifying state-specific open government issues to help with development oflocalized questions. In addition, an NFOIC-sponsored research assistant ishelping with populating the Sunshine Campaign online database. NFOIC ExecutiveDirector Charles Davis is coordinating state FOI and First Amendment groups.

-- The National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association has committed to-- The National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association has committed toincluding Sunshine Campaign updates in its monthly electronic and quarterlyprint communications to members, as well as to exploring the possibility ofincluding a special Sunshine Campaign interactive panel at the NLGJA NationalConvention in Washington next year.