Open Government Advocate Warns Washington’s Public Right to Know Is Eroding

By: Paul W. Taylor

Outlets: TVW

Published: May 21, 2026

Words: 756

Last Updated: 1 month, 2 weeks ago

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Washington’s open government advocates say the state’s once-strong transparency framework is steadily weakening as legislative privilege claims expand, exemptions multiply and reform efforts stall.

Mike Fancher, former Seattle Times executive editor and current president of the Washington Coalition for Open Government (WashCOG), said Washington is approaching a “moment of reckoning” over the public’s right to know.

“Death by a thousand cuts would be a good way to describe it,” Fancher told host Austin Jenkins …

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