Newscoma nails it on open government
I've blogged previously about the ongoing efforts to eviscerate Tennessee's Open Meetings Law (see here, here, and here, all of which was prompted by this mess) from the standpoint of an ordinary citizen. I'm not a journalist, nor do I have any connection to politics or elected officials; I'm just an ordinary citizen concerned about what my government is doing. My interest in open government is the same as any other citizen's should be: we have a right and, I believe, an obligation to demand that the public's business be conducted in public.
Newscoma, in her inimitable way, has illustrated the importance of sunshine in local government by recounting several personal experiences she's had in the course of her career in journalism. Her specific anecdotes demonstrate plainly why openness in local government must not be compromised.
Our sunshine law doesn't just serve journalists; it serves every one of us. By forcing elected bodies to conduct their deliberations in public, we have at least some protection against our officials pulling crap like this. If the pending evisceration of the Open Meetings Law is allowed to proceed, we'll have no protection at all.