Seattle Times Support the Press

ne of the most important roles of a free press is to hold power accountable and protect the public’s right to know. The Seattle Times takes this responsibility seriously. We continue to highlight news and information that impact your daily life, with public-service journalism that protects transparency and the democracy that is our shared foundation. Sometimes, our stories serve as a rallying cry for our local communities to drive change. Last year, the Washington state Legislature proposed Senate Bill 6617 to exempt itself from Washington’s voter-approved Public Records Act and hide its own records — records a judge had already ruled should be made publicly available. The bill was rushed through in 48 hours with no committee process, no debate on the Senate or House floors and no meaningful public hearing or opportunity for citizens to object. The Seattle Times countered this egregious violation of public trust. We asked every Washington state lawmaker to comment before the quick vote. We published the vote of every lawmaker in every district, with an interactive tool to find your district by address. Our Olympia bureau reported from the Capitol. And finally, to protect voters’ right to know what their elected officials are doing on public time, The Seattle Times was also one of 13 newspapers to take the highly unusual step of running an editorial on the front page calling for a veto. Editorials are usually run only on the Opinion page, but the bill was so antithetical to government transparency and the issue was of such importance to our democracy, that we called on citizens to take action to preserve transparency and open government and protect the public’s right to know. Citizens of Washington flooded Gov. Jay Inslee’s office with more than 20,000 phone calls and emails, urging him to veto the bill. He listened. The governor vetoed the bill, and lawmakers agreed not to override his veto. This is democracy in action, and it works. The Seattle Times editorial board’s support of education, the environment, same-sex marriage and local government has contributed to our region’s progress, harnessing the power of local independent media for a new future. “Part of what we hope happens when a user interacts with our content is that they’re able to apply it to being a better citizen.” Frank Mina, assistant managing editor MAKING A DIFFERENCE ONE STORY AT A TIME Hear our vision for the future of the local free press in our community. seattletimes.com/supportthepress#vision