For many reporters, it's an important part of the job description: holding government agencies accountable for their actions.

It's a task that often presents an enormous challenge, since those in power can be less than forthcoming about the contents of documents, the minutes of meetings, the figures in financial records. Reporters, like private citizens, often find themselves turning to open-government laws like the federal Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, for assistance.

To mark Sunshine Week, when attention turns to government openness and the public's right to know, asap discussed the challenges of reporting on government at the local, state and federal level with four AP reporters:

-- Ben Fox, Caribbean news editor based in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

-- Stephanie Reitz, reporter in Hartford, Conn., and Freedom of Information chair for Connecticut's Society of Professional Journalists.

-- Martha Raffaele, reporter in Harrisburg, Pa.

-- Todd Richmond, reporter in Madison, Wis.

Otis Hart is an asap reporter based in New York.

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