New Website Offers Information on Government Transparency

           Sunshine Review Website Helps Citizens and Journalists



    CHICAGO, July 17 /EMWNews/ -- Today, the Sam Adams Alliance launched

a new website, SunshineReview.org, to over 600 conservative participants

and bloggers at the Americans for Prosperity state summit in Austin, Texas.

Sunshine Review analyzes government secrecy by evaluating whether if

government websites effectively disclose information to the public and

media.



    "Sunshine Review is a goldmine as it removes the information iron

curtain between government and the public," said John Tsarpalas, president

of the Sam Adams Alliance. "Whether you're a concerned citizen or a

journalist on a deadline, Sunshine Review lets you know if government

agencies want to share information with you."



    Sunshine Review determines government's commitment to transparency by

identifying if the following items are published online:






    -- Yearly budgets;

    -- Open meeting schedules and minutes;

    -- Contact information for elected and administrative officials;

    -- Audit reports;

    -- Bids and contracts for purchases over $10,000; and

    -- Taxpayer-funded lobbying information.



    "By creating a new web 2.0 tool for citizens, we are bringing

information online that otherwise would have been kept in dusty government

storage rooms," said Tsarpalas.



    The Sunshine Review website is part of the Sam Adams Alliance's "No

Taxation Without Information" campaign to promote greater transparency at

the state and local level. Currently, Sunshine Review has 85,550 page views

and over 95 contributors.

    About Sunshine Review



    Sunshine Review is a wiki website designed to call attention to the

information gap between citizens and their government, promote the

importance of government transparency and openness, and compile existing

government information in one easy-to-access resource. Sunshine Review is a

project of the Sam Adams Alliance, a new media non-profit based in Chicago.