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How Open Is North Carolina’s Government?

WUNC News | By Frank Stasio,
Amanda Magnus
Published March 12, 2019 at 12:41 PM EDT
The Sunshine Week logo.
The Sunshine Week logo.
The Sunshine Week logo.
Credit American Society of News Editors / http://sunshineweek.rcfp.org/sw-logos/
The Sunshine Week logo.

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. Host Frank Stasio talks to WRAL investigative reporter Tyler Dukes about the importance of open government.

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.

Copyright 2019 North Carolina Public Radio
Frank Stasio
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
See stories by Frank Stasio
Amanda Magnus
Amanda Magnus grew up in Maryland and went to high school in Baltimore. She became interested in radio after an elective course in the NYU journalism department. She got her start at Sirius XM Satellite Radio, but she knew public radio was for her when she interned at WNYC. She later moved to Madison, where she worked at Wisconsin Public Radio for six years. In her time there, she helped create an afternoon drive news magazine show, called Central Time. She also produced several series, including one on Native American life in Wisconsin. She spends her free time running, hiking, and roller skating. She also loves scary movies.
See stories by Amanda Magnus