Regardless of political affiliation, we must all recognize that the overarching issue of the public's right to know is the crux of this controversy.

Public officials' increasingly dismissive attitude about this right only magnifies its value.

This controversy, one of many in recent years, serves as an important reminder that "the people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the public to know and what is not good for them to know; the people insist on remaining informed so they may retain control over the instruments they have created."

Or, as we recently wrote in responding to the challenge to the public's right to know issued by the governor, "Why is it our business? It is because Kentucky has an open records law. It's not a 'just trust me' law. It's a 'show us the records to prove it' law. It is our business to know because Kentucky's lawmakers enacted laws in 1976 that invest us with the 'right to know.'"