“Spotlight” won the Best Picture Academy Award on Feb. 28 and the honor is a timely segue to this year’s national Sunshine Week, March 13-19.

The film tells the story of the Boston Globe’s investigation into cases of child sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests in the Boston area, and as Colorado State University journalism professor Kris Kodrich noted it serves as a reminder that “we need watchdogs to keep their eyes on powerful institutions in society.”

Kodrich‘s column is one of several written for the Society of Professional Journalists Colorado Pro Chapter’s annual package of articles, which can be downloaded for use by news organizations, civic groups, and schools and colleges to help promote open government.

The Globe won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service but it is often the lesser known freedom of information and open government efforts that also have a huge impact on communities.

Sunshine Week’s annual project’s goals – open government, transparency and accountability – should be sought every day of the year by members of the public as well as news organizations.

Begun in 2002 by Florida Society of Newspaper Editors, Sunshine Week is a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Participants include news media, civic groups, libraries, non-profits, schools and others interested in the public’s right to know.

The project is supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and The Gridiron Club and Foundation. National coordinators are the American Society of News Editors and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Open Government is Good Government

The Sunshine Week slogan is self-explanatory. The organization’s website – sunshineweek.org – features a long list of resources for news outlets, community groups and educational institutions to use to further the practice of open government. On the site’s menu bar, click Toolkit, Idea Bank or Schools & Colleges to find a trove of open government and FOI projects and programs.

Let the Sunshine In

The slogan for the Society of Professsional Journalists mirrors the Sunshine Week theme with an emphasis on FOI endeavors. Under Resources in the menu bar of the organization’s website – spj.org – are more valuable tools to use for FOI projects. And, like the Sunshine Week site, it is a convenient location to learn what groups around the country are doing in conjunction with the annual event.

The Voice for Open Government in Colorado

The Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition is a non-partisan alliance of groups and individuals dedicated to ensuring the transparency of government in the state by promoting freedom of the press, open courts and open access to government records and meetings. It is an excellent source of relevant and timely information about FOI activities in Colorado. Its website – coloradofoic.org – features updated reports about FOI-related actions in the legislature, courts and local government as well as resources for help on FOI issues.

The National Freedom of Information Coalition and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press are valuable sites for year-round open government and FOI issues.

In addition to Kodrich’s “Journalists working on open records should always take the “Spotlight” column, the SPJ Colorado Pro Chapter commentaries include:

“Sunshine on a small town” by Ouray County Plaindealer co-publisher Beecher Threatt

“A one-two punch of a day” by Fort Collins Coloradoan editor Lauren Gustus.

“Nations embrace concept of ‘open data’ by SPJ Region 9 director Tom Johnson.