Keeping the government transparent and accountable isn’t just the job of journalists.
Every person has the opportunity to request public documents and attend public meetings.
This week is national Sunshine Week, when we celebrate that right.
Sunlight, according to former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, is “the best of disinfectants.” In other words, the best way to ensure that the government is working is to make it work in the open.
The Daily Tar Heel regularly puts public records to use. Police reports, for example, are available to the public and allow us to write the police log each day.
We are able to cover UNC Board of Trustees meetings and Chapel Hill Town Council meetings because of laws that require meetings of public bodies to be open.
When we know we aren’t getting a whole story from interviews with public officials, we ask for data, e-mails, contracts and other documents which the government is required to provide to anyone who asks.
The more open we ask the government to be, the more incentive officials will have to make information easily accessible.
To become empowered by open information, know the N.C. public records basics:
