Jane Kirtley, the Silha Professor of Media Ethics and Law at the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication, will present a lecture on the Freedom of Information Act at Noon on Monday, March 15, at James J. Hill Reference Library in Saint Paul.

The lecture, which promotes freedom of information and the importance of open government in honor of Sunshine Week — March 14–20, 2010, is co-sponsored by the Saint Paul Public Library, the Minnesota Coalition on Government Information, The James J. Hill Reference Library, and the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Jane E. Kirtley is the Silha Professor of Media Ethics and Law at the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Minnesota. She also serves as Director of the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law and as an affiliated faculty member at the University of Minnesota Law School. A lawyer and former journalist, Professor Kirtley was executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press from 1984–1999. She writes and speaks frequently on First Amendment and Freedom of Information issues, and on media and legal ethics, in the United States and abroad.

Sunshine Week is an annual event launched in 2005 by the American Society of News Editors to promote dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Participants include hundreds of print, broadcast and online news media, civic groups, libraries, nonprofits, schools and others interested in the public’s right to know.

This event will take place at James J. Hill Reference Library, adjacent to the Saint Paul Central Library.