Sunshine Week Summit

For journalists, attorneys and citizens

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

9 a.m. – Noon

The State Archives
1681 N. Sixth St., Harrisburg, PA 17102-1106

Virtual option is available.

Join us as we recognize Sunshine Week, a national celebration of government transparency laws throughout the country.  We’ll review updates to Pennsylvania’s open meetings and open records laws as well as hear from all the Office of Open Records executive directors.

Panelists have provided helpful resources for participants review and use:

• How to object to an open meeting violation
• Sunshine Act reporter’s manual
• Coleman Parkland case
• OOR Annual Report
• Blog post on demand for election records

Brought to you by the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, Pennsylvania Bar Association Bar/Press Committee and the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association Foundation.

CLE credits are available for in-person and virtual attendees. To receive CLE credits for attending the Sunshine Week Summit, please return the completed CLE form below to Scott Coburn from PSATS at the event or by email to scoburn@psats.org. PSATS will then issue you an invoice for $15/credit hour.

CLE Credit Form

Agenda

8:30 – 9 a.m.     Registration and coffee

9 – 9:15 a.m.     Welcome

Barbara Hough Huesken, director of legislative affairs, Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association

9:15 – 10 a.m.   Sunshine Act Update

Learn more about the state’s open meetings law, the Sunshine Act. This discussion will include a review of recent Commonwealth Court decisions.  Valuable tips and trends essential for both legal practitioners and news organizations will be shared.

Panelists:

Scott Coburn, Esq., education director/counsel, Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors

Melissa Bevan Melewsky, Esq., media law counsel, Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association

Craig Staudenmaier, Esq., of counsel, Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC

Moderator: Paula Knudsen Burke, Esq., local legal initiative attorney – PA, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

10 – 11 a.m.       Investigative Journalists & the Right-to-Know Law

We’ll hear from seasoned investigative reporters who explain the challenges they’ve had in obtaining records as well as best practices for getting information that is deemed public, but often shrouded in secrecy.

Panelists:

Joshua Vaughn, investigative/enterprise reporter, PennLive/The Patriot-News

Min Xian, local accountability reporter, Spotlight PA

Jan Murphy, state government reporter, PennLive/The Patriot-News

Moderator: Liz Wagenseller, executive director, OOR

11 a.m. – 12 noon –        The First Fifteen

The “new” Right-to-Know Law was signed in 2008 with the Office of Open Records beginning its work the next year. Let’s hear how things have changed over the last 15 years. All three OOR executive directors – past and present – will reflect.

Directors:

Terry Mutchler, 2008 – 2015

Erik Arneson, 2015 – 2021

Liz Wagenseller, 2021 – present

Moderator: Brad Bumsted, retired Harrisburg bureau chief for LNP | LancasterOnline and The Caucus

This valuable workshop is provided at no cost, but pre-registration is required using the form below. Please indicate if you plan to attend at The Archives or will participate virtually through Microsoft Teams.  Confirmations with Teams log in instructions and additional details will be emailed to all registrants on March 12.

Directions and Parking instructions available on the PA Historical and Museum Commission website.

Brought to you by the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records, Pennsylvania Bar Association Bar/Press Committee and the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association Foundation.