Sunshine Week begins today. 

Each year, Sunshine Week is sponsored by American Society of News Editors and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, with  support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and The Gridiron Club and Foundation. 

The theme this year is “Your Right to Know.”

The week-long recognition is described as an “annual nationwide celebration of access to public information and what it means for you and your community.”

Open government advocacy is a key part of our mission to serve our community in meaningful and impactful ways. 

Government must be held accountable.

The only way for the public to hold government accountable is for all of the actions of government to be out in the open.

That is why open government is part and parcel of democracy and championing transparency is part and parcel of community journalism. 

As we have consistently said, when government is allowed to operate behind closed doors, it grows out of control, is not responsive to the public and is subject to corruption.

These are some of the reasons The Valdosta Daily Times has been and will continue to be so committed to government transparency.

Public officials must understand the difference between the public sector and the private sector.

All local governing bodies are subject to the Georgia Open Meetings Act and the Georgia Open Records Act. 

Georgia’s Sunshine Law says:

“The General Assembly finds and declares that the strong public policy of this state is in favor of open government; that open government is essential to a free, open, and democratic society; and that public access to public records should be encouraged to foster confidence in government and so that the public can evaluate the expenditure of public funds and the efficient and proper functioning of its institutions. The General Assembly further finds and declares that there is a strong presumption that public records should be made available for public inspection without delay. This article shall be broadly construed to allow the inspection of governmental records. The exceptions set forth in this article, together with any other exception located elsewhere in the Code, shall be interpreted narrowly to exclude only those portions of records addressed by such exception” (O.C.G.A. 50-18-70).

The law is clear. 

The actions of government are to be open to the public.

Any exceptions to the principle of open government must be interpreted narrowly and those exceptions should never become the rule or matter of course. 

We encourage all elected and appointed officials to remember they answer to the people.