[Full Disclosure: Clark Leonard, who was interviewed for this story, is the sports editor of the Technician.]
Sunshine week, an initiative that the American Society of Newspaper Editors started to illuminate the importance of open government and freedom of information, takes place this week.
And the Society for Collegiate Journalists will be taking action in the Brickyard Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. passing out information about Sunshine Week and open records laws.
"People don't know that they really have a right to know what their government is doing. There are lots of records that are open that people don't know about," Clark Leonard, president of SCJ, said. "As the Society for Collegiate Journalists, we felt like [Sunshine Week] is a good thing for us to highlight."
The purpose of the event, according to Leonard, is to spread information about how students can obtain information to which they are legally qualified to receive.
The News and Observer's recent series involving mental health, Leonard said, utilized the Freedom of Information Act to obtain data and reports that were crucial to the articles.
"[The News and Observer] has really made the government answer some tough questions," he said.
But the Freedom of Information Act isn't solely useful to news outlets. It is important, Leonard said, for every person to know about his or her right to obtain public, government information.
"If we use the open records laws to remain informed and keep our government in check, then it can really make a difference," Leonard said. "You can look at something as simple as how money is being used in your hometown and see if it's being used efficiently."
Sunshine Week informs of the public of their right to know, and according to Leonard, that's important.
"By looking at these records, you can use [the information] to really measure if things are being done how they should be," Leonard said.
