Tennessee residents reminded of open records laws

By WOODY BAIRD

Associated Press Writer

            MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- The message is simple: All Tennessee citizens, not just journalists, benefit from open public records.

            In offering that opinion on "Sunshine Sunday," newspapers and broadcast outlets across the state joined a nationwide discussion of how public the public's business really is.

            "This fight will never end," The Tennessean of Nashville told its readers in an editorial published Sunday. "It continues to be waged in city halls, courthouses, sheriff departments and state legislatures all across this nation."

            Other Tennessee newspapers took similar editorial stands, calling for more openness in government.

            "This is a public issue because most of the time it's the public -- the private citizens -- who are trying to get information," said Otis Sanford, managing editor of The Commercial Appeal of Memphis.

            Frank Gibson, director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, said his group contacted 450 newspapers, TV and radio stations asking them to take part in "Sunshine Week," which began on Sunday.

            "Most of them, I suspect, are going to do editorials," Gibson said. "If not on Sunday, the weeklies will do them on whatever days during the week that they come out."

            "Sunshine Week" was organized nationally by more than 50 news outlets, journalism groups and universities.

            The Chattanooga Free Press reminded its readers of President Lincoln's praise for defenders of a government "of the people, by the people and for the people."

            "But it is amazing," the newspaper said, "how many officials, once in office, seem to take an attitude that they 'own' the office and 'the people' are 'outsiders' who may enter the office only at the sufferance of the officeholders."

            The Knoxville News Sentinel noted that a recent report by open government coalition said 40 percent of Tennessee's school districts refused public access to school safety reports while 45 percent of sheriff's departments withheld basic crime information.
Mostly because of weak enforcement of state law, Tennessee is particularly tough on citizens wanting to know what their local governments are doing, Gibson said.

            "In a national survey, Tennessee had the sixth-worst government access laws in the country," he said. "Citizens who have problems getting access to meetings or records have only one recourse, and that is to go to court. They have to spend their own money to enforce the law."

            The Jackson Sun, which won a court ruling last month for access to police reports and city financial records, took a different approach in drawing attention to "Sunshine Sunday."

            The Sun decided to run a blank page where its main editorials would ordinarily appear.

            "We're trying to graphically demonstrate to our readers the importance of open records laws," said editorial page editor Tom Bohs. "It's a pretty strong visual thing."

            On the Net: http://www.sunshineweek.org.