Openness watchdog turns 30 | The Daily Page | Wisconsin

Openness watchdog turns 30

Bill Lueders on Tuesday 10/21/2008 1:00 pm , (1) Recommendation

In October 1978, a group of 21 representatives of state print and broadcast media met at the offices of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. Their collective goal: To "have more clout, become more of a fist, serve a stronger warning [and] have a bigger impact" in defending rights guaranteed under the First Amendment.

The result was a new state organization called the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council. The group, of which I am proud to be part, has survived and thrived.

The driving force behind the council's formation was Bob Meloon, then executive editor of The Capital Times. He gave an impassioned speech at its inaugural meeting.

"The hard fact remains that the arteries of information about government and its legal workings are gradually closing. They are being closed by people who don't believe in the open processes of our democratic society," said Meloon, who died in 1996.

"They are being closed by an ever-more-complex technology which makes physical access to information more difficult. And they are being closed by changing attitudes among the general public, which does not have the fervent support for press freedom processes that we know to be vital."

…

"In Wisconsin, the trademark of the state is openness, transparency in government and records," said Abrahamson. "Let the sun shine in. Sunshine is a good disinfectant."

We couldn't have said it better ourselves.

Your Right to Know is a monthly column distributed by the Freedom of Information Council (www.wisfoic.org), a nonprofit group dedicated to open government. Bill Lueders is the group's president.

 
 

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