Content Toolkit
The Sunshine Week content toolkit is a free resource for any media outlet, journalist, school, civic or non-profit organization — anyone interested in publishing the content during the week to amplify the importance of access to public information. Government officials are welcome to use the materials for activities related to open government.
Please note that permission to use these materials freely covers only the seven days of Sunshine Week 2021 (March 14-20). Now that Sunshine Week has concluded, this material cannot be published.
Check back next year for 2022 content for Sunshine Week.
2021 social media kit
Here’s our social media toolkit, including sample social posts to share ahead of and during Sunshine Week on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social platforms. (Courtesy: Open The Government / Ufuoma Otu)
2021 content package
From The Associated Press
Governments delay access to public records during pandemic: A year after the first coronavirus shutdowns, public records have become harder to get in many U.S. states and cities.
Pandemic redefines 'public' access to government meetings: The coronavirus pandemic is redefining the way the American public interacts with its government.
Governors evade sunshine laws to keep records from public: Some of the nation's governors routinely block access to public records to keep the public in the dark about key decisions involving the coronavirus pandemic.
from news leaders association & partners
Op-Ed: Harsh questions for the press (By Kathryn Foxhall, Society of Professional Journalists)
Op-Ed: Abuse of the court system must stop now: What I saw from my front-row seat at the Lance Armstrong doping scandal (By Laura Prather, First Amendment attorney and director of the Protect Free Speech Coalition)
Op-Ed: Open government is much better government (By Jim Zachary, CNHI)
Op-Ed: I owe a rockpit more than $4 million because I said it was bad for the environment (By Maggie Hurchalla)
Op-Ed graphic novel: Breonna Taylor killing highlights importance of Sunshine Laws (By Mike Thompson, USA Today)
Op-Ed: You Can’t Have Democracy Without a Free Press (By Gene Policinski, Freedom Forum)
Op-Ed: Federal court records should be free and easy for the public to access. We're working on it. (By Amy Kristin Sanders and Rachel Davis Mersey, University of Texas at Austin School of Journalism and Media)
Op-Ed: Exercise your right to know, during Sunshine Week and beyond (By Ray Cooney, The Commercial Review)
Op-Ed: Newspapers excel as your collective ‘eyes and ears’ (By Jim Pumarlo)
Op-Ed: Effective, Efficient and Equitable: How Open Government Can Deliver on Vaccines (By Renzo Falla, Open Government Partnership)
advertisements
A series of advertisements in celebration of Sunshine Week that can be used in print or online. Fill out this form to access a ZIP file with JPGs, PDFs and InDesign files. You’re welcome to customize the ads using the InDesign file to change the text or image. (Courtesy: Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association - PNA)
You are welcome to use our Sunshine Week graphics for your events, articles, websites, etc. Please send an email to sunshineweek@newsleaders.org with a description of how you’d like to use them before publishing.