Sunshine Week

As a news editor for the University of Rhode Island newspaper, The Good 5 Cent Cigar, I think Sunshine Week is a wonderful idea. It is time for us as members of the press to finally shed some light (pun intended) on this subject of our basic freedoms and let the public know of the restrictions the government is imposing upon us, and more importantly, on them.

It is vital that Americans have access to all types of information regarding the U.S. government. Our founding fathers believed that the most crucial information was knowledge about government itself, hence the First Amendment and the development of free speech. A system of checks and balances was created among the three branches of government, and according to The Journalist’s Moral Compass, “as something of a fail-safe, or backup, system, the founders of the American system asked the newspaper press to watch over the three branches and report its findings back to the sovereign people.”

People give up some of their individual rights to government in order for government to protect their society, a kind of “social contract,” according to philosopher Thomas Hobbes. But John Locke believed if government is not doing its job correctly, the people should be able to do something about it: “The people generally ill-treated, and contrary to right, will be ready upon any occasion to ease themselves of a burden that sits heavily upon them…” But the only way people will know if their government is mistreating them is if the information is made readily available to them.

Now I’m sure that there are some of you out there that feel access to certain information could be dangerous. My response would be: if we have such a democratic government, why should there be any dangerous information in the first place? Another point is that as long as people read things cautiously and carefully, nothing bad can come out of gaining more knowledge. According to 17th century English poet John Milton, “… all kind of knowledge cannot defile, nor consequently the books, if the will and conscience be not defiled.” In short, as long as the general public reads things objectively and is able to separate the truth from the untruths, then there will be no misinterpretations of the information. Jeffersonian lawyer Tunis Wortman agreed, saying that people are smart enough to make their own decisions when given accurate, unbiased information: “The investigation of moral or political subjects, requires not the talent of invention; judgment and not genius is the faculty to be employed.”

I believe that in order for this to become a reality, we as journalists living in the 21st century must realize how important our jobs are. According to The Elements of Journalism, “The primary purpose of journalism is to provide citizens with the information they need to be free and self-governing.” I couldn’t agree more.

We work for the people; we have to make sure the news we are covering is accurate, because above all else, the truth is the most important. Without truth, we have nothing. People have a never-ending desire to learn, to know what is going on around them; we must satisfy that instinct. If we fail in any aspect of this, we fail in our roles as journalists. We are the people’s eyes and ears to the world, we are the watchdogs, and I for one am not going to let the government walk all over me. This dog isn’t going down without a fight.

In an extreme circumstance, I shudder to think that at this rate, with all of the new restrictions and secrecy policies going into effect that the United States might one day turn into a dictatorship like North Korea. What’s next? Is the U.S. government going to eventually start sending American journalists to “re-education camps” if there is something said criticizing President Bush? You think it sounds crazy, but look at the censorship and limitations being enforced lately. To a much smaller extent, we have Kim Jong-ils living in small town, city, and state governments all across the U.S. Let us hope we can eradicate this problem before we turn into an oppressive regime that monitors all aspects of the media, including our television, newspapers, and radio. We must fight for our freedom of the press.

I think that Sunshine Week is a step in the right direction. If journalists nationwide can unite and promote the message of a completely free press, then we cannot be ignored. My best advice for the governments out there is this: Come March 13, you guys better be sporting Ray-Bans and your strongest sun block, because if I have anything to do with it, our blinding light will be a force to be reckoned with.