Posts by Connecticut SPJ

Lynne DeLucia named to Connecticut Journalism Hall of Fame

Lynne DeLucia

Lynne DeLucia


Lynne DeLucia, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, will be 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.

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. View a list of past inductees here.

CTSPJ College Contest Open For Entries

The Connecticut SPJ College Contest is open for entries.

Click here to visit the contest website.

All entries must be received by 5 p.m. on Monday, April 28.

The entry fees are:

  • $5 for SPJ members (membership ID number required)
  • $10 for non-members and news organizations

The contest is open for items published or broadcast in the 2013-14 academic year. (Please note, you must use the year 2013 when entering, even for items published in 2014).

Students can enter any work that ran in a print or online newspaper, or that was broadcast or streamed by a radio or TV station during the 2013-14 academic year.

Entries are limited to three per person per category. Each story, editorial, photo, etc. is a separate entry.

Any contest questions may be directed to contest committee co-chair Jodie Mozdzer Gil at jmozdzer@ctspj.org.

 

CTSPJ Members: Get free tickets to see James Risen

Connecticut SPJ will send two chapter members to the New England First Amendment Center luncheon, where New York Times reporter James Risen will speak about his refusal to testify in the trial of a former CIA officer.

CTSPJ is giving away two $100 tickets to the luncheon, which will be held on Feb. 7 in Boston. Any current CTSPJ member is eligible for the tickets, which will be given to the first person or people to contact CTSPJ President Jodie Mozdzer Gil at jmozdzer@gmail.org.

Membership status will be verified with national SPJ before the tickets are distributed. Chapter members are national SPJ members who have also paid the $10 annual chapter dues.

Risen, a Pulitzer Prizing winning journalist, will receive the 2014 Stephen Hamblett Award from the New England First Amendment Coalition at the event. He will speak about his work writing about the CIA and domestic spying, and the legal fallout after he refused to testify and identify his source for the book “State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration.”

The New England First Amendment Center was formed in 2006 to advance and protect the Five Freedoms of the First Amendment, including the principle of the public’s right to know. Its members include lawyers, journalists, historians, librarians, academics and private citizens.

Event Details

Place:Boston Park Plaza Hotel

Time: 12:30 p.m.

Date: Friday, Feb. 7

CTSPJ members should e-mail Jodie Mozdzer Gil at jmozdzer@gmail.com to request free tickets.

CTSPJ President’s Statement on Task Force Recommendations

The Task Force on Victim Privacy and the Public’s Right to Know met for the last time Jan. 24 and approved its final report.

Click here to download a PDF version of the report.

The final recommendations from the task force represent a compromise regarding the different viewpoints from the 17 members. The compromise recommends the legislature allow for review — but not release — of certain criminal records, which are now entirely exempt from disclosure under Public Act 13-311.

My support of the compromise comes reluctantly, as I do not agree with its recommendations. However, I supported the compromise because I believed it was the lesser of two evils.

A revision to the state’s FOI act approved by the Connecticut General Assembly in 2013 added unnecessary restrictions to the release of public information regarding crimes. When asked to appoint four members to the task force, the Connecticut Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (CTSPJ) did so with the hope of regaining all of the transparency that was lost.

My first choice would have been to repeal Public Act 13-311 and revert the FOI Act to its existence prior to June 2013. I supported a compromise because it allows review — albeit under burdensome circumstances — and provides a window into possible release.

The task force was stacked with members who indicated they wanted to see MORE restrictions on the release of public records. FOI and press advocates were in the minority. It became clear the best chance at getting movement away from a bad law would be to meet in the middle.

The Task Force held public hearings — an important step that was ignored during the crafting and approval of Public Act 13-311. After hearing broad and balanced testimony, the Task Force came to the consensus that the law needs to be changed.

Public Act 13-311 is not appropriate. It lacks the transparency required in our democracy. While not ideal, the compromise is a shift in the right direction — one supported by even those on the board who initially wanted more restrictions.

The following are my main concerns with the current recommendations:

  • The standard for release should be Perkins, not Favish. The burden should not be on the public to prove a record should be public, as the Favish standard requires. Both Public Act 13-311 as it exists, or the task force’s proposed use of the Favish standard bring Connecticut to the bottom half of the state FOI spectrum in regards to openness and transparency.
  • The addition of 911 calls to the Task Force recommendation is a bad idea. The legislature wisely left 911 calls out of the original act.

I hope this Task Force recommendation is a first step toward a widespread conversation about the need for open government and a move back to the respected FOI Act our state has long had.

 

CTSPJ Journalism Contest Open For Entries

The Connecticut SPJ Excellence in Journalism Contest is open for entries.

Click here to visit the contest website.

A full list of contest categories can be found here.

All entries must be received by 5 p.m. on Feb 17, 2014.
The entry fees are:

  • $10 for SPJ members (membership ID number required)
  • $25 for non-members and news organizations

The contest is open for items published or broadcast in 2013 year.

Entries are limited to three per person per category. Each story, editorial, photo, etc. is a separate entry.

Any contest questions may be directed to contest committee co-chair Jodie Mozdzer Gil at jmozdzer@ctspj.org.

 

FOI/Victim Privacy Task Force Compromises

The Task Force on Victim Privacy and the Public’s Right To Know voted to recommend the Connecticut legislature change a law it passed last year limiting the public’s access to information from crime scenes.

The compromise — reached after months of meetings on the topic — does not bring the public’s access back to the level it was prior to passage of Public Act 13-311. The deal results in a recommendation that would allow the public to view crime scene photos from homicides, but requires an appeal in order to get access to the records.

Click the links to view coverage of the final meeting from the Hartford Courant, the Danbury News-Times and CTNewsJunkie. The video embed above is CT-N coverage of the Dec. 17 task force meeting.

Connecticut SPJ, which appointed four members to the task force, including CTSPJ President Jodie Mozdzer Gil, wanted to see the FOI act returned to its original state. However, facing an uphill battle against a task force heavily weighted toward privacy advocates, the compromise seemed like the only way to gain back some of the lost access to the important public records.

Being able to look, but not copy, public records was a compromise to ensure the availability of the records.

 

2013 Contest Categories

Click here to download a PDF version of the contest categories.

SPECIAL PLAQUE AWARDS

open to all media circulations

  • Stephen A. Collins Public Service Award

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.

  • Theodore Driscoll Award For Investigative Reporting

A single story or formal series containing information, obtained through reporter initiative, not readily available to the news media or public.

  •  First Amendment Award

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.

FOI Commission Made The Right Decision on 911 Calls

The following is a statement from the Connecticut Pro Chapter of SPJ, regarding the FOI Commission decision on the Newtown 911 calls on Sept. 25. 

We’re pleased the FOI Commission upheld its hearing officer’s report demanding release of the 911 calls from Newtown. The decision was appropriate, and reflected the FOI Act requirements for public disclosure.

If the case is appealed, as expected, we urge the higher courts to come to the same conclusion: That 911 calls are important public records.

The 911 calls surrounding an incident allow the community and the press to assess official response, and to try to gain a better understanding about what happened.

The decision of whether material is appropriate for publication or broadcast should not be made by the government; it should remain with the journalists, guided by the various journalistic codes of ethics.

Public Hearings Scheduled for FOI Task Force

The Task Force on Victim Privacy and Public’s Right to Know will host two public hearings in October, to solicit input from the public regarding a state law that limits crime scene documents after homicides.

The public hearings are scheduled for:

The task force will also hear testimony from public officials and other experts during its regularly scheduled meeting Oct. 2 in Hartford.

All members of the public are invited to attend, to give testimony about the task force’s mission — to determine the balance between victim privacy and the public’s right to know.

The task force was created after the Connecticut legislature approved a law that limits public access to crime scene documents in the wake of the Newtown elementary school shooting.

For more information on the task force, visit the website here.

Victim Privacy/FOI Task Force Minutes

The following are minutes from the Victim Privacy/FOI Task Force Meetings:

Aug. 1, 2013

Aug. 21, 2013 (DRAFT)

Sept. 4, 2013 (DRAFT)

 

Copyright 2010-2017. Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists, P.O. Box 5071, Woodbridge CT 06525