NNA PUSHES SUNSHINE SUNDAY
Contact: Tonda F. Rush
(703) 534-1278

            ARLINGTON, Va. —Communities throughout America—and the citizens who live, work and pay taxes in those communities—have a right, a need and a desire to know how public officials are representing them, how they are planning for the future, how their tax dollars are being spent. As the public's watchdog, community newspapers have an important stake in open government and should play a critical role in raising awareness among citizens and officials alike that freedom of information is not just a Washington , D.C., issue, National Newspaper Association President Mike Buffington, editor of The Jackson Herald, Jefferson, GA, said.

            That is why NNA has endorsed Sunshine Sunday and its weeklong observance of issues surrounding the public's right of access to government information, Buffington said. He urged NNA community weeklies and dailies to pay close attention to the Sunshine events as a national coalition of media organizations prepares for a kickoff March 13, 2005.

            Buffington, a member of the national steering committee leading the Sunshine events, said open government is a bread and butter concern for local editors.

            “The tension between public business and the urge for secrecy in government is as old as our Republic,” Buffington said. “When the issues arise in a home town, the local editor probably has the keenest appreciation for that tension. It is always our job to make sure open government remains a clear and consistent obligation of local officials. This national awareness campaign will help us in our work.”

            During Sunshine Sunday week participating daily and weekly newspapers, magazines, online sites, and radio and television broadcasters will be provided material for feature editorials, op-eds, editorial cartoons, and news and feature stories that drive public discussion about why open government is important to everyone, not just to journalists.

            NNA Executive Director Brian Steffens said NNA would provide information through the NNA website at www.nna.org as materials become available.

            Buffington noted that the observance begins the week after NNA's 44 th Annual Government Affairs Conference in Washington , DC . The Conference will be March 9-12, 2005, at the Wyndham Washington Hotel. It will feature a Congressional reception on Capitol Hill March 10, 2005.

            “With journalists going to jail at alarming rates and the various new security laws tightening access at all levels, 2005 will be a year when freedom of information and the First Amendment are going to be front and center on NNA's legislative agenda,” he said.