SPOTLIGHT PA: Secrecy Is Too Often the Norm in PA Government, and We’re Fighting Back

Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters .

We pay for our government, and it should answer to us. But too often, that’s not how it works.

Records get buried. Agencies stonewall. Officials wait out the news cycle or criticize reporters rather than answer hard questions. And the more those in power know news organizations are struggling under cutbacks, layoffs, and closures, the more they default to secrecy.

According to a recent lawsuit, one of the highest-ranking officials in the Pennsylvania Department of Aging bragged about finding loopholes in responding to public records requests, and allegedly deleted records when fulfilling a request filed by Spotlight PA.

We founded Spotlight PA — an independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on the state government and urgent statewide issues — six years ago to restore accountability to state and local government. And today, we need your help to keep going, and your gift will be doubled.

If you value fiscal responsibility, you should care about Spotlight PA’s reporting. When our reporters dig into state contracts, follow lobbying money, or expose wasteful spending, they’re protecting your tax dollars and keeping the playing field fair.

If you believe in personal freedom and civil liberty, you should care about Spotlight PA’s reporting. When state agencies, elected officials, or powerful institutions fail to serve the people or step beyond their authority, we’re there to call it out.

And if you believe the heart of our country still lies in our local communities — towns where neighbors still know each other, where traditions matter, where self-reliance isn’t just a virtue but a necessity — you should care about Spotlight PA’s reporting.

This week is Sunshine Week, an annual time to recommit to keeping our government and elected leaders honest. And what better way than supporting Spotlight PA’s independent, unbiased reporting that will go wherever the story leads, without fear or favor.

The work is expensive, unglamorous, and absolutely essential.

This is our ask: Make a tax-deductible gift to Spotlight PA today and The Benter Foundation of Pittsburgh will DOUBLE your contribution. Start a new monthly sustaining gift and they’ll match the entire year’s value — that’s 12X your contribution today.

Every dollar goes directly to the journalism holding Pennsylvania’s leaders accountable, and no amount is too small. Get your gift matched now at spotlightpa.org/donate. If you’d like to donate by check, please mail it to: Spotlight PA, PO Box 11728, Harrisburg, PA 17108-1728.

The match won’t last. The need for this work will.

Christopher Baxter is the CEO & President of Spotlight PA, a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom based in Harrisburg. Email him at cbaxter@spotlightpa.org.

BEFORE YOU GO… If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at spotlightpa.org/donate . Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results.