Dana Hess writes for South Dakota Searchlight, an online news organization.

On a warm, mid-August afternoon in 2018, a group of newspaper publishers and editors gathered at the meeting room of the South Dakota Newspaper Association in Brookings. They were there to question U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem, the Republican candidate for governor, about her thoughts on First Amendment and open government issues.

The journalists in the room came from two groups. There were members of the SDNA board of directors, newspaper publishers on the board for their acumen in the business of journalism. The other group was members of SDNA’s First Amendment Committee, charged, among other things, with tracking legislation that has implications for the public’s right to know.

Meetings like this, known as editorial boards, were common at some newspapers. The publication’s leadership would meet with a candidate to ask questions about statewide issues and those of local concern. The questions from the SDNA group would take a narrower focus, seeking Noem’s opinions about the state’s spineless open meetings law, the lengthy list of records not open to public review, the prospect of opening state emails as public records and opening access to body cam video and crime reports.

There were no rookies in the journalism group. They came from all over the state but their common denominator was experience dealing with candidates, elected officials and major advertisers. They thought they had heard it all. Then Noem surprised them.

Early in the conversation that day, Noem announced that one of the first bills she would sponsor was a reporter shield law. Reporter shield laws allow that journalists don’t have to reveal their sources, turn over their notes or be compelled to testify.

Noem said the law was needed to ensure that investigative reporters can “do their jobs without fear of consequences or legal action.” Such a law would add accountability to state government, she said, and allow “that you all are able to do your jobs to the best of your ability.”

It’s not too great a stretch to say that the journalists in the room were stunned by Noem’s statement. They welcomed the news, but the prospect of getting a reporter shield law in South Dakota wasn’t even on their list of questions that day. They would rather that the candidate promise to convene a task force to study open records or the open meetings law.

The reporter shield law was part of what Noem called her “Sunshine Initiative” for government openness. As luck would have it, March 10 through March 16 was Sunshine Week, a time set aside in this country each year to look at the importance of shining a light on the workings of government.

Noem is in her second term. After a fast start with the reporter shield law, which she signed into law in 2019, her Sunshine Initiative has faded. When it comes to government openness her administration has been, at best, mostly cloudy.

This space has been used at length and often to chronicle how the Noem administration has been less than open, less than willing to let the sun shine in:

• As per Noem’s directive, reporters aren’t allowed to talk directly to government sources but must instead submit questions to the department’s public information officer who may, or may not, decide to provide answers.
• The governor has largely given up on the weekly news conferences traditionally held during the legislative session.
• During her one, hastily called, legislative press conference this year, she admitted that the cost of deploying National Guard troops to monitor the Texas border was being paid for by South Dakota taxpayers.
• The Freedom Works Here workforce development commercials starring Noem came under legislative fire for the way that the winning bidder was selected and how that bidder came into possession of ideas submitted in Lawrence and Schiller’s bid.
• ”Security” has been invoked as the reason for not divulging how much it costs to protect the much-traveled governor.
• She refused to release transcripts of the calls to the “whistleblower hotline” set up to collect complaints about the state’s institutions of higher learning.

Government openness is dependent on our leaders recognizing its importance and acting in a way that sheds light on the bureaucracy. Despite running for office with a “Sunshine Initiative,” Noem has worked tirelessly to ensure that the workings of her administration be encased in darkness.