Dean Ridings, president and CEO of America’s Newspapers, wrote a great column about Sunshine Week, celebrated just last week. As he pointed out, the purpose of Sunshine Week is highlighting the importance of open government and the public’s right to know.

How decisions are made that affect the public’s life needs transparency and that doesn’t happen without the important role of newspapers. Without local journalists attending meetings, reviewing documents, asking questions and explaining what decisions mean for the community, transparency may exist on paper but remain invisible to the public.

There may be little public awareness when important decisions are passed. The information produced by public records and open meeting requirements can be difficult for residents to find or interpret — and some might not know this exists!

Local newspapers are watching, paying attention to ensure the public sees the information that affects them. Your local newspaper’s reporters take information from attending meetings, reviewing documents, asking questions and explaining decisions for their readers. School board votes and local county government decisions shape daily life.

Transparency happens when local newspapers help turn a legal concept into something people can use.

Ridings explains what many recent studies find: readers trust local newspapers significantly more than national or social media because reporters focus on issues that matter where their readers live and work.

For generations, local newspapers’ role of consistently monitoring public institutions and reporting back to the public is how transparency works best.

Thanks Dean Ridings for reminding us that Sunshine Week recognizes the value of open government and the importance of reporting grounded in facts, context and accountability in our own neighborhoods.