Comment: TVW turning ‘sunlight’ and civility on state government

By Renee Radcliff Sinclair / For The Herald

There’s something about a little sunshine to speed the healing process, which is precisely why we need more of it in government these days.

Next week, March 10-16, marks Sunshine Week, a national initiative to encourage public access to government at all levels. Without “sunlight” — a cheery euphemism for access to our local, state and national government proceedings — our democracy would be in serious jeopardy. Helping people understand that peril is part of why this week was established.

It’s no secret that our civic health is faltering. According to a 2018 poll, 93 percent of Americans said incivility is a problem; 69 percent said it’s a “serious” one. At the same time, civic education is also on the decline. Fewer than half of American adults can name the three branches of government. Failing to understand the role and responsibilities of each only fuels a heightened distrust of our democratic institutions.

It is also precisely why more sunshine is needed to heal our civic health.

In Washington, we actually have more “sunshine” than other states. Prior to 1995, there were no TV cameras in the Legislature or the state Supreme Court. Today, Washingtonians — and really anyone around the globe with an internet connection — can call up a Senate hearing, a House floor debate, an argument before the state Supreme Court, or a press conference by the governor, all thanks to TVW, Washington’s Public Affairs Network

After some debate, state lawmakers approved initial funding for TVW in 1993; two years later, TVW went live. This was a seminal moment for open government, creating a new level of nonpartisan transparency.

Over the years, TVW’s presence in state hearing and meeting rooms has expanded, providing thousands of hours of committee hearings, court proceedings and agency meetings, as well as nationally recognized documentaries and produced content like our weekly public affairs shows, “Inside Olympia” and “The Impact.”

Then came covid-19: TVW quickly became everyone’s lifeline to state government, the only unfiltered lens on Olympia during the crisis. Interestingly, many of those viewers have stayed with us, creating a global audience, watching Washington’s democracy in action. Today, you can access live and archived footage on your schedule, streaming online, on cable, and on Roku. This “sunshine” is really a luxury, something available in only a handful of states, including ours.

Ironically, our viewership is growing at a time when people are hugely disillusioned by government institutions and the media assigned to cover them. The rise of social media and the decline of traditional news have fostered unprecedented societal conditions, making it more difficult to find common (or polite) ground on literally anything.

That’s why the notion of open government and accessibility must extend not only to observing government, but also to demystifying it. It requires a different kind of “sunshine” — civics education — to break through the clouds of government.

TVW was made for this very purpose. And it’s the impetus for our Center for Civic Engagement: to repair the fabric of our communities through civics education. Only by deconstructing government can we help citizens find ways to address some of our biggest challenges.

For TVW, that means continuing to leverage the business of the people to help them become well-informed citizens. We already do some of this work in our “Teach with TVW” program, a free resource for teachers to engage students with state government. The Center for Civic Engagement aims to broaden that education to people of all ages and backgrounds.

It is no longer enough for people to see government at work; they must also understand the process. Government transparency remains one of the best means of restoring civility to our communities and daily lives; a role TVW was destined to play.

Renee Radcliff Sinclair, a former state representative, is the president and CEO of TVW, offering unedited coverage of Washington state government, politics and public policy.