More People See Federal Government as Secretive; Nearly All Want to Know Where Candidates...

More People See Federal Government as Secretive; Nearly All Want to Know Where
Candidates Stand on Transparency

Embargoed for Release: Sunday, March 16, 2008

WASHINGTON, March 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Three-quarters of American
adults view the federal government as secretive, and nearly nine in 10 say
it's important to know presidential and congressional candidates' positions on
open government when deciding who to vote for, according to a Sunshine Week
survey by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University.

The survey shows a significant increase over the past three years in the
percentage of Americans who believe the federal government is very or somewhat
secretive, from 62 percent of those surveyed in 2006 to 74 percent in 2008.

"In a democracy whose survival depends on openness, it's sobering to see that
three-fourths of Americans now view their national government as somewhat or
very secretive," said David Westphal, Washington editor for McClatchy
Newspapers and co-chairman of the American Society of Newspaper Editors
Freedom of Information Committee. "On the other hand, it's gratifying to see
that almost 90 percent believe a candidate's position on open government is an
important issue when they make their Election Day choices."

The survey of 1,012 adults was commissioned by ASNE for Sunshine Week, a
national initiative that encourages discussions about the importance of open
government and freedom of information. Sunshine Week's 2008 Sunshine Campaign
is a yearlong effort to have candidates for all level of office -- from
president to city council -- discuss their positions on government access
issues.

Half of respondents said government at the state level is secretive, while 44
percent viewed it as open. Nearly all interviewed, 92 percent, said open
government is important to them in assessing candidates for state offices such
as governor or attorney general. Those who see local government as secretive
increased from 34 percent in 2007 to 40 percent in the 2008 survey. And 91
percent said the local candidate's position and record on open government are
important to them in making a voting decision.

People also overwhelmingly want access to information such as who lawmakers
meet with each day (82 percent), police reports about specific crimes in local
neighborhoods (71 percent), and permits for concealed handguns (66 percent).
About half said they do not object to officials asking people seeking records
to identify themselves or explain why they'd like to see the record.

Although only about a quarter of adults believe the federal government has
opened their mail or monitored their telephone conversations without a federal
warrant, three-quarters believe it has happened to people in the United States
and two-thirds say it is very or somewhat likely to have happened to members
of the news media.

The survey was conducted by telephone from Feb. 10-28 under the supervision of
Robert Owens, operations manager of the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio
University. The co-directors of the center are Jerry Miller and Ani Ruhil.
Guido H. Stempel III, distinguished professor emeritus at Ohio University,
also assisted the project.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Sunshine Week, www.sunshineweek.org, is a non-partisan open government
initiative led by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, www.asne.org,
with online and broadcast media, public officials, celebrities, civic groups,
non-profits, libraries, schools, religious leaders and others. Sunshine Week
is endowed through a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation,
www.knightfdn.org, which invests in journalism excellence worldwide and the
vitality of the 26 communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. It
focuses on projects with the potential to create transformational change.

The following are selected findings from a survey of 1,012 adult residents of
the United States conducted by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University
in a study commissioned by the American Society of Newspaper Editors for
Sunshine Week.

Here are some questions about whether you feel government in America is open
and transparent or whether you think government is closed and secretive. When
talking about the local government in your community, do you think local
government is very open, somewhat open, somewhat secretive or very secretive?

Very Open 16
Somewhat Open 40
Somewhat Secretive 26
Very Secretive 14
Don't Know/Other 4

How about your state government? Is it is very open, somewhat open, somewhat
secretive or very secretive?

Very Open 10
Somewhat Open 40
Somewhat Secretive 30
Very Secretive 14
Don't Know/Other 6

How about the federal government based in Washington, D.C.?

Very Open 4
Somewhat Open 16
Somewhat Secretive 30
Very Secretive 44
Don't Know/Other 6

How likely do you think it is that the federal government has opened mail or
monitored telephone conversations of people in the U.S. without first getting
permission from a federal judge? Is it very likely, somewhat likely, somewhat
unlikely or very unlikely that the federal government has done these things
without permission from a judge?

Very Likely 48
Somewhat Likely 29
Somewhat Unlikely 7
Very Unlikely 9
Don't Know/Other 7

How likely do you think it is that the federal government has opened your mail
or monitored some of your telephone conversations?

Very Likely 11
Somewhat Likely 15
Somewhat Unlikely 17
Very Unlikely 47
Don't Know/Other 10

How likely is it that the federal government has opened mail or monitored
telephone conversations involving members of the news media?

Very Likely 38
Somewhat Likely 26
Somewhat Unlikely 9
Very Unlikely 12
Don't Know/Other 15

How important to you is a candidate's position on open government when you
decide whom to vote for? So when you are voting for president, is a
candidate's position on open government very important, somewhat important,
somewhat unimportant or very unimportant to you?

Very Important 60
Somewhat Important 27
Somewhat Unimportant 6
Very Unimportant 4
Don't Know/Other 3

How about when voting for a member of Congress. Is open government very
important, somewhat important, somewhat unimportant or very unimportant to
you?

Very Important 60
Somewhat Important 28
Somewhat Unimportant 4
Very Unimportant 2
Don't Know/Other 6

How about when voting for a candidate for state office like governor or
attorney general?

Very Important 64
Somewhat Important 28
Somewhat Unimportant 4
Very Unimportant 3
Don't Know/Other 1

How about when voting for your city council or school board?

Very Important 69
Somewhat Important 22
Somewhat Unimportant 3
Very Unimportant 3
Don't Know/Other 3

Government records usually are considered public documents that people may
view during normal business hours. Which of the following should be the
government's policy when releasing government documents: First, that people
should be required to show identification and give a written reason for seeing
the documents? Or second, that people should be required to speak their names
and say why they want to see the documents? Or third, that they should speak
their names but not be required to give a reason why they want to see the
documents? Or fourth, that they should give a reason but not give their names?
Or fifth, that they should not be asked either their names or why they want to
see the records?

Show ID and give written reason 36
Speak name and explain why 15
Speak name but not reason 12
Give reason but not give name 6
Should not give name or reason 22
Don't Know/Other 9

Lawmakers at the local, state, and federal levels meet with a lot of different
people over the course of a day such as lobbyists, voters, other government
officials and campaign donors. They usually keep lists of those visitors. Do
you think the public should be allowed to see with whom lawmakers meet?

Yes 82
No 11
Don't Know/Other 7

Just as with the question about access to public records, if people are
allowed to see a lawmaker's list of visitors, should people have to identify
themselves and state reasons why they want to see the lists:

Show ID and give written reason 42
Speak name and explain why 13
Speak name but not reason 9
Give reason but not give name 4
Should not give name or reason 26
Don't Know/Other 6

I'd like to ask some questions about whether governments should release
information to the public. For example, should a city police department allow
the public to see incident reports about specific crimes in local
neighborhoods?

Yes 71
No 15
Don't Know/Other 14

Some states allow people to carry concealed handguns if they get a permit.
Should state governments allow the public to see who has been given permits to
carry concealed handguns?

Yes 66
No 25
Don't Know/Other 9

Source: National survey of 1,012 adult residents of the United States
conducted by Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University from Feb.
10-28.

The perception that the federal government often operates in secrecy has grown
significantly in recent years, according to a series of polls conducted by
Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University.

Here are some questions about whether you feel government in America is open
and transparent or whether you think government is closed and secretive. When
talking about the federal government based in Washington, D.C, is it very
open, somewhat open, somewhat secretive or very secretive?

2006 2007 2008
Very Open 5 7 4
Somewhat Open 28 18 16
Somewhat Secretive 40 32 30
Very Secretive 22 37 44
Don't Know 5 6 6

Source: Three polls of at least 1,000 adult residents of the United States
each interviewed by telephone by the Scripps Survey Research Center.

SOURCE American Society of Newspaper Editors

Debra Gersh Hernandez of the American Society of Newspaper Editors,
+1-703-807-2100, mobile: +1-571-238-1499, dghernandez@asne.org; or Thomas
Hargrove, +1-202-408-2703, hargrovet@shns.com, for Scripps Howard News
Service