As we end the 2014 Excellence in Journalism contest year, the CTSPJ board is looking forward to next year already. With changes in media outlets and the industry, we are considering some changes to the way we handle circulation classes and categories.
We’d like your input.
Please take a moment to fill in the following survey.
CTSPJ will give its Helen M. Loy Award to a group involved with the Connecticut Law Tribune prior restraint fight this past year.
Writer Thomas Scheffey, editor Paul Sussman, publisher Jeff Forte, former writer Isaac Avilucea, and attorney Dan Klau, will be recognized for their battle in court, and active coverage of the attempt to censor their publication.
Avilucea, now at the Trentonian in New Jersey, was working on an article about unusual legal tactics being employed in a custody battle involving the Department of Children and Families when he found a document associated with the case online. The document was a habeas corpus petition filed by the divorcing father’s attorney, but the lawyer filed it improperly and the petition appeared on the Judicial Branch’s public website.
The petition also included the names of the children involved in the custody case, prompting New Britain Superior Court Judge Stephen Frazzini in late November to bar the Law Tribune from publishing the article. The Law Tribune, led by Sussman and Forte, hired Klau and challenged the ruling on the basis that it didn’t fit criteria for prior restraint as set by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Frazzini vacated his ban on the story in December, citing the widespread publication of the document as no longer requiring the prohibition, according to a CT Law Tribune story on the decision.
Scheffey followed the case from gavel to gavel for the Law Tribune.
The Helen M. Loy award honors those who advance open government through the use of Freedom of Information laws. The CT Law Tribune case extends beyond the right to access information to the right to publish without government interference. While the document in question is typically sealed by courts, the CT Law Tribune obtained it legally and under the First Amendment has the right to decide whether to publish it. Their fight was especially important in the current atmosphere where the right to access information in Connecticut is under attack.
The late Helen M. Loy was a former chairwoman of the Freedom of Information Commission, and one of the trio of original members appointed by then-Gov. Ella T. Grasso. Loy served as a commissioner from 1975-1985 when she died. Upon her passing, the Connecticut Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists named its annual Freedom of Information award in her honor.
Cindy Simoneau
Cindy Simoneau, chair of the Journalism Department at Southern Connecticut State University, and associate professor of journalism, will be inducted into the Connecticut Journalism Hall of Fame May 21, 2015 at the Connecticut SPJ Excellence in Journalism dinner at Seasons at the Tradition in Wallingford.
Simoneau’s career has spanned more than 30 years in newspapers and journalism education. Her lasting impact to the Connecticut journalism industry is measured in her work as a reporter, editor, teacher and mentor.
Simoneau started her career in Connecticut journalism in 1980, working as a town news reporter for the Newtown Bee. She moved to the Connecticut Post as a reporter then bureau chief in 1982. Simoneau founded the Post’s WomanWise section in 1991 and was named the assistant managing editor for the newspaper in 1997.
In 1991, Simoneau began work as an adjunct professor. She taught at Quinnipiac University, Fairfield University and Southern Connecticut State University – often all three in the same semester. In 2007, she was hired full-time as a professor in the journalism department at Southern Connecticut State University.
Simoneau founded and has served as adviser for CTTeens, a program for high school student journalists at the Connecticut Post, which is now in its 16th year and continuing throughSouthern Connecticut State University. Many of the program’s graduates have gone on to careers in journalism, business communication, publishing and teaching.
Simoneau’s reach into the Connecticut journalism industry also includes more than three decades of service to the Connecticut SPJ chapter and Board of Directors, where she has served three terms as president, more than a decade as the board’s treasurer and on various committees including nominations, finance, bylaws, scholarship and contest.
Simoneau is currently chairing the SPJ Region 1 Conference Committee, which is planning a Connecticut journalism conference for 2016. She is a four-time winner of the CTSPJ President’s Award, and has won several awards for her reporting and editing.
The Connecticut Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists created the Connecticut Journalism Hall of Fame to honor journalists who have made a significant and enduring contribution to journalism in the state. The entire Connecticut Journalism Hall of Fame may be viewed here.
The dodgeball tournament fundraiser that we had scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015, has been postponed due to snow. The Central Connecticut State University campus has issues with parking during the snow clearing process. So we figured it was better to postpone than to try to squeeze it in today. We do, however, plan to reschedule. We will post more information about the new date once it is set. Thank you for your understanding.
Click here to download a PDF version of the contest categories. To enter the contest, click here.
SPECIAL PLAQUE AWARDS
open to all media circulations
A single story or stories having a significant impact in the public interest. Entries must include supporting documentation such as letters, editorials, evidence of a change in public policy, etc. showing how the entry had an impact.
A single story or formal series containing information, obtained through reporter initiative, not readily available to the news media or public.
A single story, column or series that increases public understanding of the role of the press in a free society.
The following are the categories for the contest. Entries are placed in different circulation classes based on media type.
EDITORIAL
General Column | A single column (other than sports, opinion or Op-Ed) that does not express a strong opinion or point of view on an issue or an event.
Opinion Column | An opinion column clearly states an opinion on an issue or an event. It must appear in any section other than the Op-Ed or Sports pages or portion of a broadcast.
Editorial Cartoon | A single cartoon that appears online or in print.
Op-Ed Column | An op-ed column must have been published in the Op-Ed section of a paper. It must have a stated byline or author. If the entry appeared online only, it can only qualify for the Op-Ed column category if the website has a designated “op-ed” or “opinion” section. Websites without that section should enter under the category “Opinion Column” or “General Column.”
Single Editorial | A single editorial represents the opinion of the publication, station, or news website as an organization. It can be written by one or more than one person.
REPORTING
In-Depth Series | A formal series of articles helping the reader understand situation beyond information provided in a normal news story. Limit one (1) series per person. Continuing coverage of a topic DOES NOT count as a series.
In-Depth Reporting | A single story helping audience understand situation beyond information provided in a normal news story.
Investigative Series | A formal series containing information obtained through reporter initiative that was not readily available to the news media or the general public. Limit one (1) series per entrant. Continuing coverage of a topic DOES NOT count as a series.
Investigative Story | A formal series containing information obtained through reporter initiative that was not readily available to the news media or the general public.
Spot News | A single story involving coverage of a spot news event written under an immediate deadline.
Feature | A single story written for some factor other than timeliness.
Feature Series | A series written or produced for some factor other than timeliness.
General Reporting | A single news story not covered by any other category.
General Reporting Series | A formal series of articles or broadcasts that do not fit into any other category. Limit one (1) series per entrant.
Arts & Entertainment | A single entry dealing with the arts.
Business | A single article on a business topic.
SPORTS
Sports News | A single story on a sports news topic.
Sports Feature | A single story on a sports news topic, written for a factor other than timeliness.
Sports Column | A single column on a sports topic.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Sports Photo | A single sports photo. All photo entries must include the photographer’s name. Any photos entered under “Staff,” “Contributed” or similar credits will be disqualified.
Feature Photo | A single feature photo. All photo entries must include the photographer’s name. Any photos entered under “Staff,” “Contributed” or similar credits will be disqualified.
Photo Layout | The photo layout category is not a design category. It is for photos only; not their arrangement. It generally should be for the work of one photographer. All photo entries must include the photographer’s name. Any photos entered under “Staff,” “Contributed” or similar credits will be disqualified.
News Photo | A single photo taken for news value. All photo entries must include the photographer’s name. Any photos entered under “Staff,” “Contributed” or similar credits will be disqualified.
LAYOUT
Page 1 Layout | A category for the person who arranged the text and the illustrations, not for the writers and photographers of the materials on the page. Only the layout person should be listed.
Non-Page 1 Layout | A category for the person who arranged the text and the illustrations, not for the writers and photographers of the materials on the page. Only the layout person should be listed.
Headline | A single entry is made up of three headlines. All three headlines must be the work of a single individual but not necessarily from the same publication. Entries involving the work of more than one person will be declared ineligible. If submitting a PDF, highlight the headlines to be considered.
GRAPHICS
Informational Graphic | A static graphic that appears in print, online or in a broadcast to augment reporting on a topic. Entrant should be person who designed the graphic.
MULTIMEDIA
Video Storytelling | Excellent use of video to either tell a story alone, or bolster written reporting.
Audio Storytelling | Excellent use of audio to either tell a story alone, or bolster written reporting.
Interactive Graphic Reporting | The use of free Internet tools to present data or reporting in an interactive format.
Interactive Graphic Design | Creation of a functional interactive graphic using tools such as Flash or HTML. This category is meant for the person who designed the graphic.
The Connecticut Pro Chapter and Region 1 of the Society of Professional Journalists are greatly disappointed with and concerned by Judge Stephen Frazzini’s Nov. 24 order barring the Connecticut Law Tribune from publishing a story about a child custody case. The ruling should be overturned.
State law has sought to protect the privacy of children involved in custody disputes, but it also specifies that the First Amendment and the public’s right to know take precedent. Furthermore, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly rejected prior restraint, ruling it constitutional only in matters that pose an extreme threat to public safety and national security.
Paul Singley, CTSPJ President
Rebecca Baker, Region 1 Director
President
Jodie Mozdzer Gil
Vice President of Programming
Jamie DeLoma
Vice President of Communication
Liz Glagowski
Treasurer
Cara Rosner
Secretary
Ricky Campbell
Immediate Past President
Cindy Simoneau
Board members
Jesse Buchanan
Lila Carney
Daniela Forte
Zach Janowski
Paul Singley
Don Stacom
Lynne DeLucia
Lynne DeLucia, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, was inducted into the Connecticut Journalism Hall of Fame at the CTSPJ annual awards dinner on May 22, 2014.
Tenacity, curiosity and quality have been hallmarks of DeLucia’s more than 40 years in Connecticut journalism.
It started at age 16 in Hamden, covering an inchworm invasion and planning and zoning for the Hamden Chronicle. She moved full-time to the New Haven Register, where she was among a group of female journalists who sued for pay equality in the mid 1970s. The suit was eventually settled out of court, but the goal of equal pay was realized: The wages of women essentially doubled in the Register newsroom.
After becoming city editor of the Register in 1983, DeLucia moved to the Hartford Courant in 1993 to run the New Britain bureau. She became state editor in 1995 and led the Courant’s coverage of the 1998 shooting at the Connecticut Lottery headquarters. Those stories won the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news.
She moved up to assistant managing editor, where she urged reporters to explore projects on gender, sex, domestic violence, the impact of the Iraq War on soldiers, and many other topics.
In 2009, DeLucia moved to the digital realm. She co-founded the Connecticut Health I-Team with Lisa Chedekel. The site provides health and safety reporting to 15 media partners in Connecticut. With DeLucia as editor, C-HIT has reached more than one million readers since 2010. Additionally, C-HIT hosts an annual high school journalism camp for students in Connecticut to refine their investigative journalism skills.
“Lynne’s dedication to the craft of journalism — and most importantly to the communities that her work has informed and improved — make her deeply deserving of admission to the Connecticut Journalism Hall of Fame,” said John Ferraro is his nomination letter for DeLucia.
Connecticut SPJ is looking for a clerk to handle administrative tasks for its annual journalism contest. Applicant should have the following skills/attributes:
Please send resume, noting experience and education, to Jodie Mozdzer Gil at jmozdzer@ctspj.org by June 20. Please also note any media affiliations, past and present, in Connecticut.
Job starts in December 2014, and runs through May 2015, with option for renewal the following year.
The Connecticut pro chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists will honor Don DeCesare and James H. Smith with the Helen M. Loy Freedom of Information award at the CTSPJ annual awards dinner May 22.
DeCesare and Smith, as members of the Task Force on Victim Privacy and the Public’s Right to Know, each fought for more access to crime scene photos after the legislature passed a law exempting the records from public release.
DeCesare and Smith disagreed about the best strategy to try to change the law, which was passed — behind closed doors — in response to the killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Yet both men spent dozens of hours of their personal time working to change the law to allow the public to again have access to crime scene photos. For that tireless effort, CTSPJ thanks DeCesare and Smith.
About Don DeCesare
DeCesare is past chairman of the Connecticut Broadcasters Association. DeCesare has worked for more than 40 years in broadcasting, including many years at CBS Broadcasting in New York City where he went from editing radio broadcasts to overseeing television news coverage. He is now president and general manager of WLIS-AM, Old Saybrook and WMRD-AM Middletown.
DeCesare was a founding member and past board member and treasurer of CT-N, as well as a member of the Media Center Advisory Board for Middlesex Community College.
About James H. Smith
Smith, a retired journalist of 42 years, is president of the Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information. Smith has served as president of the New England Society of Newspaper Editors, and is a member of the New England Newspaper Hall of Fame.
He led the Connecticut Post, The Day of New London, The News-Times of Danbury, the Record-Journal of Meriden and the New Britain Herald to their first New England Newspaper of the Year awards.
Smith won the American Society of Newspaper Editors’ Distinguished Writing Award for a selection of his columns on the First Amendment. He is the four-time winner of the First Amendment Award from CTSPJ.
About the Helen M. Loy Freedom of Information Award
The Connecticut pro chapter of SPJ honors people who work to advance open government in Connecticut.
The late Helen M. Loy was a former chairwoman of the Freedom of Information Commission, and one of the trio of original members appointed by then-Gov. Ella T. Grasso. Loy served as a commissioner from 1975-1985 when she died. She worked in various local and state government positions throughout her career.
Upon her passing, CTSPJ named its annual Freedom of Information award in her honor.