Neither the Gore nor Bush campaigns responded to repeated requests by the American Society of Newspaper Editors for their stances on such issues as access to government information, the public's right to know, privacy rights and plans for press conferences if elected president.

The society, which represents about 900 of the nation's top newspaper editors, was sharply critical of the candidates and raised questions about what this says about how Gore and Bush view these issues.

"Citizens have a right to know how their government operates,'' said ASNE president Richard Oppel. "We wish Vice President Gore and Gov. Bush would have taken the time to lay out their thinking on access to information and the workings of government. We hope their decision does not reflect negatively on their views about open government."

Anders Gyllenhaal, chair of ASNE's Freedom of Information Committee, which watches over these issues for the society, said the candidates' positions are particularly important now that digital technology is changing the way information is made available.

"If ever there was a time that candidates ought to be talking about how much information should be getting to the public and what the government's role should be, this is that year,'' Gyllenhaal said.

It has been a tradition for ASNE to request the candidates' positions and outline them in articles and releases so the public could compare their stances. This is the first time in at least 20 years that the presidential candidates have failed to respond.

The Gore and Bush campaigns were initially queried five months ago on a half dozen issues involving public access, enforcement of the Freedom of Information Act that governs the release of pubic information, personal privacy, the regulation of records on the Internet and government handling of electronic records.

For many decades, the society has been a leading advocate of public access to information and has monitored government regulations of information and creation of new information laws. The organization, for instance, is currently pushing for the veto of legislation pending before President Clinton that would, among other things, make it a crime for government officials to release certain classified information.

Oppel referred to that legislation, which ASNE considers duplicative and poorly drawn, in pointing out the importance of presidential candidates making their positions known.

"In the face of growing efforts by Congress to choke off the flow of leaks from the U.S. government, ASNE finds it disappointing that neither major presidential candidate has chosen to respond to our questions about their views on freedom of information. Even this week, press organizations have been working to secure a veto of a bill sought by the Central Intelligence Agency to penalize people who leak 'classified information' — when it is so easy for agencies to designate information as classified.