It’s “Sunshine Week”, a time when we celebrate one of the bedrocks of American democracy: Open government. It’s timed to coincide with the birthday of James Madison, known as the father of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Madison believed deeply in the importance of access to information in a free society, and in the press as an essential tool for self-governance.

In an age when many people get their news by consulting TikTok, WhatsApp, Instagram, chatbots and search engines, access to information may seem a no-brainer. The answers to everything are right at our fingertips. But we also know that an “answer” isn’t always truthful, and “information” from these sources, while often interesting and usually helpful, isn’t the same as accurate details drawn from original documents or interviews with primary actors and put into context.