Sunshine Week Conducts Information Audit
In an ongoing effort to improve access to government information, journalists, students, and citizen volunteers have been participating in a nationwide audit of public emergency response records. The Sunshine Week 2007 National Information Audit: Comprehensive Emergency Response Plans (21 pages, PDF) finds that compliance with information requests nationwide is spotty at best, and often in violation of federal law. Of the 404 audits conducted, an emergency response plan was provided in full to 44 percent of requestors, while 20 percent received only partial reports and 36 percent of requests were summarily denied. Now in its third year, Sunshine Week is an open government initiative spearheaded by the American Society of Newspaper Editors and funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
