 |
The Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California Chapter, is honoring
TV news producer and investigative reporter Lowell Bergman with its Norwin S.
Yoffie Career Achievement Award for epitomizing the values of freedom of information
throughout his career.
Bergman, Kees, and 11 other James Madison FOI Award winners will be honored
at a dinner ceremony on Wednesday, March 16, 2005, at Sinbad’s Restaurant,
Pier 2, San Francisco. Tickets for the dinner cost $50 for SPJ members, $60
for non-members, and $40 for students. For information about the awards dinner,
call (510) 208-7744. KPIX anchor Ken Bastida and KFOG news director Peter Finch
will emcee the award ceremony, which takes place on National Freedom of Information
Day.
A complete list of this year’s winners is below.
The James Madison Freedom of Information Awards, named for the creative force
behind the First Amendment, honor local journalists, organizations, public officials
and private citizens who have fought for public access to government meetings
and records, or have promoted the public’s right to know, publish, broadcast
and speak freely about issues of public concern. Award winners are selected
by the Northern California Chapter's Freedom of Information Committee.
The Norwin S. Yoffie Career Achievement Award is named in memory of the former
publisher and general manager of the Marin Independent Journal, who gave many
years of distinguished service to SPJ and the cause of freedom of information.
The Beverly Kees Educator Award is named in honor of the former SPJ NorCal Chapter
president, who was killed in a tragic accident in December 2004.
* * * * *
Lowell Bergman, Investigative Reporter
Best known for his landmark investigation of the tobacco industry (dramatized
in the 1999 film “The Insider”), Bergman is an Emmy Award-winning
reporter, producer and journalism consultant who has epitomized the values of
freedom of information throughout a career that has spanned more than 30 years.
He co-founded the San Francisco-based Center for Investigative Reporting in
1977, and the following year helped launch “20/20” for ABC News.
He spent 14 years as a producer for CBS’s “60 Minutes” and
has produced and worked on numerous films for Frontline, including “Hunting
bin Laden” and “Blackout,” a 2001 exploration of the California
energy crisis. His reporting on workplace safety for the New York Times was
recognized with a 2004 Pulitzer Prize in the Public Service category. He is
currently a visiting professor at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Beverly Kees
The world lost Beverly Kees in a tragic accident on Dec. 10, 2004, but during
her life she made it her mission to educate and support journalists in every
situation. She began her journalistic career as an editor in the Midwest, as
later as program director of the Freedom Forum’s Pacific Coast Center,
where she organized seminars for reporters and First Amendment advocates. At
the time of her death, Kees was a journalism instructor at San Francisco State
University and immediate past president of the Society of Professional Journalists’
Northern California Chapter. She was not just a supporter, but an advocate and
ally of the chapter’s Freedom of Information Committee. In her memory,
the FOI Committee is renaming its James Madison Educator Award after her in
perpetuity.
Patricia Holt
Holt gained national prominence during her 16 years (1982-1998) as
book editor and critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. Throughout her career,
and especially as the author of the Internet column “Holt Uncensored,”
Holt has been a persistent advocate for free speech and freedom of information.
Whether criticizing media consolidation, chain bookstores or the Patriot Act,
her advocacy has always focused on the sanctity of the building blocks of freedom
of information: the writer, the reader and the independent bookstore.
North Coast Journal
The Journal is recognized for its efforts to unseal grand jury transcripts from
a high profile investigation of a Fortuna City Council member who was accused
of covering up a conflict of interest regarding a real estate deal she personally
represented. Its investigation exposed a local political scandal. The Journal
devoted considerable amounts of time, effort and money to open up records they
knew were legally open to inspection no small burden for a community paper.
Santa Cruz Sentinel
The Santa Cruz Sentinel continuously keeps the First Amendment in front of its
readers through its “As We See It” editorials, written by Editor
in Chief Tom Honig and Managing Editor Don Miller. The column has celebrated
World Press Freedom Day and the passage of Proposition 59, and criticized both
the media for its lack of coverage and the government for its lack of openness.
In all cases, the Sentinel doesn’t just editorialize, but educates its
readers with facts and the context necessary to understand the importance of
freedom of information.
Thomas Peele (Contra Costa Times)
Peele conceived and coordinated an ambitious Contra Costa Times investigation
of local government compliance with the California Public Record Act. The paper
tested 86 public agencies and over 35 police departments, discovering that most
officials did not grant immediate access to the records as provided by law.
The Times’ report, “Open Records, Closed Doors,” led to a
public forum organized by the paper in August under Peele’s leadership.
Peele also writes a monthly column focusing on open government.
Tom Vacar (KTVU Channel 2)
Vacar made extensive use of federal Freedom of Information Act requests
to the Transportation Safety Administration to conduct an 18-month investigation
into airport security breaches. Vacar learned that several major U.S. airports
had elevated breach rates, and more shockingly, that the TSA does not systematically
collect data on breaches. The requests were met with strong resistance from
the TSA and required several appeals, and the investigation revealed a concerted
effort by the agency to conceal its mistakes. Vacar’s broadcasts focused
heavily on his FOIA battle and the TSA’s attempts to stonewall the investigation.
Karl Olson
Olson is recognized for his wide range of First Amendment and FOI legal work,
including representing the Contra Costa Times in its successful lawsuit to force
the City of Oakland to release salary information. The case, which is on appeal,
has advanced the cause of openness in local government finances. He also sued
the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), as lawyer for the
California First Amendment Coalition (CFAC). The CalPERS case, which Olson and
his firm handled pro bono, resulted in a favorable settlement in which CalPERS
agreed to disclose the management fees it pays to venture capital firms.
Oakland Tribune
The Tribune is recognized for its four-part series, “Missing the Target:
A flawed plan to protect the homeland.” Staff writers Michele Marcucci,
Sean Holstege, and Ian Hoffman produced a detailed account of anti-terrorism
funds obtained as grants from the Department of Homeland Security, showing waste,
inequity and lack of planning. Using information obtained under the California
Public Records Act, the trio showed that small counties get as much as 10 times
the per capita funding as large ones, and that no one has figured out which
sites are most worthy of protection.
Associated Press, Northern California/Northern Nevada Bureau
The local bureau of the Associated Press receives this award in recognition
of its body of reporting using the California Public Records Act, and for making
a special effort to train all correspondents in freedom of information laws.
In 2004, reporters Kim Curtis and Bob Porterfield spent months requesting data
from California prisons and county jails for their story package on excessive
telephone charges for inmates. Their data was made available to the public through
a special AP Web site.
Loretta Lynch (California Public Utilities Commission)
In an agency typically known for its secrecy and lack of accountability, Lynch
was a persistent advocate for openness during her term as a commissioner. She
often fought for the release of commission documents that other commissioners
wanted to keep secret, and frequently went out of her way to ensure that reporters
got the information they needed, including calling reporters instead of waiting
for them to call her.
Donna Hall (San Francisco Sunshine Ordinance Task Force)
Hall retired last year after half a decade of service as the administrator of
the San Francisco Sunshine Ordinance Task Force. The task force has become the
most forceful and consistent advocate for open government within City Hall.
Hall’s care, dedication and professionalism were instrumental in educating
officials and civil servants about the public’s right to know, and in
getting agencies to release documents and open up meetings, often preventing
situations from becoming serious problems or violations of law.
Kevin De Liban and Oliver Luby (San Francisco Ethics Commission)
De Liban and Luby are being recognized for risking their jobs by filing a complaint
with San Francisco’s Sunshine Ordinance Task Force. Their complaint contested
an order by the Ethics Commission’s deputy director to destroy a document
sent to the commission inadvertently which raised questions about the propriety
of financial transactions by Mayor Gavin Newsom’s campaign committee.
While no violation of law was found, the release of the information precipitated
a scandal that prompted the campaign to retract the transactions and led to
the resignation of the Ethics Commission’s director.
-30-