The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has joined a large group of organizations dedicated to transparency and openness in government in declaring its opposition to continued, and growing, threats to openness, ethics and accountability created by a culture of secrecy in the US government.
With the release of this declaration, NCAC and its cosignatories have designated this week, which should celebrate public access to information, the Eclipse of Sunshine Week.
“Sunshine Week is traditionally an annual celebration of transparency, openness, and the public’s right to know,” said Open the Government Executive Director Lisa Rosenberg. “However, this year more than 30 organizations and individuals thought it was equally important to raise awareness about unrelenting attacks on these fundamental values. We decided to push back and warn people about a growing culture of secrecy that threatens freedom of information and our ability to hold public servants accountable.”
The declaration can be read below. We encourage others who are disturbed by threats to openness, ethics and accountability in our government to share their thoughts on social media with the hashtags #SunshineWeek and #Eclipse.