Title: Sunshine in Government Initiative

Source/Sponsoring Agency: Sunshine in Government Initiative

URL: http://www.sunshineingovernment.org/

Date Checked: 3/20/2008      Status: Active

Date Annotated: 1/6/2005

Topics: Administrative Law

Other keywords: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); Freedom of the Press

Contents: The Sunshine in Government Initiative (SGI) is a coalition of media groups committed to promoting policies that ensure the government is accessible, accountable and open. Believing that public oversight is the ultimate safeguard of democracy, SGI's position is that it is the inalienable right of citizens to examine and judge their government, and that that right is best served when news media act on behalf of the public to gain access to information. SGI membership includes the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the Associated Press, Newspaper Association of America, Society of Professional Journalists, and others. The SGI website offers the public a brief history of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), FOIA statistics and facts, a study on FOIA litigation from 1999 to 2004, and FOIA-related Congressional testimony. The site also includes a legislation section, articles, and opinions and editorials. Of interest to students would be the sections on FOIA delay examples, most notorious FOIA requests, and case studies, collected in a searchable database called the "FOIA Files."

Author of Annotation: B. Kreisler