Sunshine Week: Prime Opportunity for Citizen Journalism

Citizen journalists, grab your boots and warm up your keyboards! Sunshine Week is almost here -- one of the best opportunities to demonstrate to your communities, audiences, and news-biz counterparts just how vital and compelling citizen journalism can be.

Sunshine Week is an annual campaign spearheaded by the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE). It encourages news organizations to highlight current threats to open government.

The whole point of Sunshine Week is to stem the creeping (well, OK, leaping) tide of government secrecy, thus ensuring democracy. This goal certainly is not the sole domain of professional journalists and news organizations. Citizen journalists can -- and should -- visibly and notably pitch in on this effort. We have so much to offer.

This year, Sunshine Week is March 12-18. So start planning now for great coverage of goverment secrecy issues on your beat. Here are some tips to get you started...

The big picture: One reason why citizen journalism is so intriguing is its potential to become a powerful way to ensure open government. The more people we have chipping away at government secrecy, the better.

Over at Contentious today I posted a list of several ways that anyone can use the online tools of social and conversational media to support and contribute to Sunshine Week activities. See: "Making the most of Sunshine Week online" There, I discuss some ideas for tagging, blogging, wikis, flashmobs, forums, and communities. And of course I mention citizen journalism.

To expand upon that, here are some ways citizen journalists (and venues that feature citizen journalism) can make the most of Sunshine Week:

1. Learn about local open government requirements: I'm using the term "local" loosely here -- it can mean your city, your county, your state, or your nation. It can also mean your topic or community of interest, which could be anything from nuclear waste to gay marriage to wheelchair access. Which open government issues and laws apply? Does your state even have a sunshine law? The Sunshine Week site offers a great list of open government resources. Also, Open the Government is a first-rate resource and community site. Of course, you should share what you learn with your audience. Sunshine Week is a perfect time for "Government access we're supposed to have" backgrounder articles.
2. Catch up on relevant government-secrecy stories: Right now, before Sunshine Week, is a good time to scour relevant news outlets, web sites, blogs, forums, and other information sources to learn which open government concerns are affecting your audience. Remember to practice good journalistic skepticism and skills. Don't just blindly parrot facts and allegations found elsewhere. Check them out with primary sources as much as possible and seek corroboration. Form your own conclusions, and dig up fresh facts and insights wherever you can. Spreading rumors or misinformation only undermines the goals of Sunshine Week.
3. Attend, and report on, a government meeting or hearing: If you've never done this, now's the time to try it. Bring your notebook, and also ask in advance about audio recording and photography. Whatever you're told about access or electronic recording, double-check it against applicable laws. Take good notes, get good quotes, and write a story.
4. If you meet resistance, push back: It's possible that you may try to attend a meeting, or get a transcript or recording from a hearing, which legally should be free to the public -- but isn't. If someone says no, be sure to note exactly whom you're speaking to and what her/his reason is. Then keep pushing for access. Work your way up the food chain. Cite the relevant laws. And, of course, write or podcast about your experience -- naming names, of course. There's no need to be nasty, but you should be clear and specific. You'd be surprised how many government officials simply don't  understand the access laws they're supposed to honor.
5. File a FOIA request: Again, if you've never done this, now's the time. The US Freedom of Information Act turns 40 this year, and it's time we all learned how to use it -- it's NOT just for news organizations. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press offers an excellent online guide, "How to Use the Federal FOI Act," complete with sample request letters. Over at Outraged Moderate, Thad Anderson offers an excellent example of how a citizen journalist can put a FOIA request to good use.

Those are just a few ideas off the top of my head. What else can you suggest? Comment below!

Comments

[Lex]

Excellent ideas all. The Associated Press coordinated a sunshine project with many of our state's newspapers a few years back, and the results were enlightening ... as well as embarrassing to a number of public officials, some of them directly elected.

I've been doing this stuff for a living for 22 years, and it never ceases to amaze me how little the people it is whose job is to take care of records know about the state laws that govern how they're supposed to do their jobs. And if I had been billing market rates for the time I've spent acting as a de facto consultant on complying with open-records laws, I could've retired long ago.