Sunshine Week is a U.S. nonpartisan collaboration among groups in the journalism, civic, government, education and private sectors that shines a light on the importance of public records and open government. It is based at the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications.
In recognition of the 20th anniversary of national Sunshine Week, there will be a Sunshine Fest held in Washington, D.C. on March 20, 2025.
Overview
Sunshine Week occurs each year in mid-March, coinciding with James Madison's birthday.
During Sunshine Week, news organizations, civic and watchdog groups, libraries, nonprofits, schools and other participants engage public discussion on the importance of open government through news and feature articles and opinion columns; social media campaigns; infographics; editorial cartoons; public service advertising; public seminars and online or in-person forums. The purpose of the week is to highlight the fact that "government functions best when it operates in the open."[1] In many states, however, legislatures exempt themselves from public-records laws, claiming "legislative immunity,"[2] and growing secrecy limits government accountability.[3]
History
The Florida Society of Newspaper Editors launched Sunshine Sunday in 2002 in response to efforts by some Florida legislators to create scores of new exemptions to the state's public records law. The following year, the idea of a national Sunshine Sunday was raised at an American Society of Newspaper Editors Freedom of Information summit.
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