Spring ahead: Lose an hour, gain insights into Sunshine Laws
By Holly Edgell | March 11th, 2012
- Dale Chihuly installation at the Missouri Botanical Garden (2007). Photo by Holly Edgell.
With Daylight Saving Time upon us, you may be feeling a little resentful about losing an hour. I hear you.
Put the anger aside and rejoice! I would argue that the advent of Sunshine Week is reason to celebrate.
On the Sunshine Week page at the Society of Professional Journalists website you’ll find this line: “It’s our duty as journalists, and a key mission for SPJ, to shine light into the dark recesses of government secrecy.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.
The rising sun
Sunshine Week began in 2005 through the efforts of the American Society of News Editors and a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The movement to shed light on Freedom of Information (FOI) rules and regulations caught on, and now the week is a highlight of the journalistic calendar across media platforms.
Serving members
For chapters that already have planned Sunshine Week activities , kudos! Please share information on what you are doing with the rest of us.
If Sunshine Week sort of snuck up on you, no fear: you can provide great FOI service to your members and the public at large year round. The SPJ Sunshine Week page provides 29 great tips and suggestions you can use anytime.
Two simple steps
1. As a start, consider sending an email to your members to let them know or remind them about the SPJ blog devoted to all things Sunshine: FOI FYI.
2. Reacquaint members or introduce them to the wealth of resources available through SPJ. Here’s the list:
