Sunshine Week is a nationally-observed celebration of access to information, transparency and open government. Public records and open meetings give citizens the power and knowledge to hold officials accountable, and they are a foundational part of a functioning democracy.
This year, North Carolina journalists collaborated on an effort to investigate how local agencies respond to requests for information about their settlement agreements. They found that government officials in the state have paid millions of taxpayer and insurance dollars to stop the risk of legal action.
Host Frank Stasio talks to Tyler Dukes about the project and about the importance of open government. Dukes is an investigative reporter at WRAL.
