Your Tuesday evening update on Salem news
Good evening….
For those who believe in open government, this is a big week.
This is National Sunshine Week was established in 2005 to promote transparency in government and help citizens understand their rights to information.
You won’t encounter any big parades or Capitol Mall rallies to celebrate.
The work of seeing that those who run government work openly goes on day in and day out by honest public officials, by journalists, by lawyers and by determined citizens.
At Salem Reporter, we work hard to protect your right to know what the government is doing. We do so by questioning public officials about their decisions and actions.
We do so by pressing for access to public records. No other news organization in Salem persists as we do to overcome a government “no.” We’re not looking for fights, but we also aren’t going to be run off by cranky bureaucrats who want no one in their business.
That right to documents – your right – is in state statute as the Oregon Public Records Law.
The national companion is the Freedom of Information Act, which governs federal agencies.
In 1986, President Ronald Reagan established March 16 as Freedom of Information Day. He picked the day because is the birthday of James Madison, a key defender of freedoms.
“He understood the value of information in a democratic society, as well as the importance of its free and open dissemination. He believed that through the interaction of the government and its citizens, facilitated by a free press and open access to information, the government could be most responsive to the people it serves,” according to Reagan’s proclamation.
At Salem Reporter, we hope those who work in local government and will pause for just a moment sometime this week to reflect on that.
–Les Zaitz, editor and CEO
Now, for local news from your professional team at Salem Reporter:
salemreporter.com
With just an hour, high school students from around Oregon went to work Monday to cook up a first-class meal. They competed in Salem under the watchful eye of professionals…
14 Mar 2023
salemreporter.com
With just an hour, high school students from around Oregon went to work Monday to cook up a first-class meal. They competed in Salem under the watchful eye of professionals…
14 Mar 2023
salemreporter.com
There will also be a public hearing Wednesday over whether the county should be allowed a flexible contracting exemption for a $50 million sewer development project in the Santiam Canyon.
14 Mar 2023
salemreporter.com
There will also be a public hearing Wednesday over whether the county should be allowed a flexible contracting exemption for a $50 million sewer development project in the Santiam Canyon.
14 Mar 2023
salemreporter.com
Get the inside scoop on stories produced by your local news team at Salem Reporter. Listen to our journalists discuss the news on the air. TODAY: Unusual library items, passenger…
14 Mar 2023
salemreporter.com
Get the inside scoop on stories produced by your local news team at Salem Reporter. Listen to our journalists discuss the news on the air. TODAY: Unusual library items, passenger…
14 Mar 2023
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