The public is here

Knock, knock.

Who's there?

The public.

The public who?

The public who foots the bill for government and ultimately is in charge of it, that's who.

Of course, like robots in sci-fi movies or unattended yeast dough, things can take on lives of their own when left alone. Enter Sunshine Week.

A national effort to raise awareness about open government and the mechanics of freedom of information, Sunshine Week is led by the American Society of Newspaper Editors. And although print media leads the way, participants in this effort include broadcast and online news media, civic groups, libraries, non-profits, schools and others interested in the public's right to know.

This effort is about empowering the general public to take its rightful place as watchdogs, supervisors and all-around active players in the decisions that govern their lives. The reality is that although members of the media seem to be the most visible proponents and users of the Freedom of Information Act--often prying public information out of reluctant government employees, or protesting the closing of meetings-only about 5-6 percent of FOIA requests are made by the media. A study by the Coalition of Journalists for Open Government also found that roughly two-thirds of FOIA requests are made by commercial interests. The remaining FOIA requests are submitted by citizens and non-profit organizations.

Clearly, freedom of information is not just a concern of journalists. We do pride ourselves on pursuing sunshine in government. We consider it part of our jobs, and a large part of what forms the societal covenant that we enjoy as a free press in a democratic country. But in a country on a war footing, leery of outsiders/foreigners and skittish about what direction another possible attack might come from-many have been content to trade in some freedom, some rights in exchange for a feeling of security. Despite a 2006 resolution from the president commanding federal agencies and agents to free up public information for public consumption, requests are taking longer and showing less.

In the trickle-down theory of freedom of information, all of these factors make it that much more important for citizens, journalists and businesses to attend to the government activities we fund.