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Several honored by FOI council

The following is a press release from the Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information:

HARTFORD – The state librarian, a college professor, an NPR editor, a reporter and a retired TV news executive were honored Wednesday for their tireless efforts to keep government records and proceedings open to the public.

The Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information bestowed its Bice Clemow Award on State Librarian Kendall Wiggin, and the Stephen J. Collins Award on Meriden Record-Journal reporter Mike Savino. Champion of Open Government Awards were presented to CCSU history Professor Matt Warshauer, NPR New England Executive Editor John Dankosky, and former Channel 3 News Director Richard Ahles.

Wiggin and Warshauer were recognized for their efforts to make public historical medical records of civil war soldiers suffering from “soldiers heart,” today known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Both have been active in opening the records to the public ever since mental health advocates five years ago passed legislation closing access to those and other historical records. The measure was buried as the 37^th section in a 90-section funding bill and passed unbeknownst to legislators voting on it in the last hours of the legislative session.

“The fight to open the records has gone on longer than the Civil War,” said Warshauer, who pledge to come back with a bill again next year. Wiggin stressed “the importance these records play in understanding our history.”

Savino’s award is for his coverage of open government issues while at the Journal Inquirer of Manchester. He has since moved to the Record-Journal, but wherever he plies his trade, it is with a free press “for the people,” he said.

Dankosky, recently promoted from WNPR to the New England-wide editorship, said he shares his award with colleagues Katie Talarski, Jeff Cohen, Colin McEnroe and David DesRoches at WNPR.

Ahles, vice president and former president of CCFOI was recognized for his long service to the group and his exemplary television journalism career. What is most important to him, said the Emmy-award winning journalist, is the friends he has made over the years at work and at the FOI council.

James H. Smith was presented an “Outstanding Service Award” for his five years as CCFOI president.

New officers were elected for the coming year. Dan Klau, an attorney with McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter in Hartford, was named president; Zach Janowski, director of external affairs at the Yankee Institute for Public Policy in Hartford, was named vice president. Jeffrey Daniels of Jeffrey Daniels Consulting of West Hartford and a former aide to Gov. Ella Grasso; and Michele Jacklin, a former Hartford Courant columnist, were named co-legislative chairs. Mary Connolly, retired editorial page editor of the News-Times in Danbury, and George Lombardi, general manager of WSHU radio in Fairfield, remained as secretary and treasurer respectively.

2015 CTSPJ Excellence in Journalism Winners Announced

The 2015 Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists Excellence in Journalism awards were given out at the organization’s annual awards banquet on May 26. Download the spreadsheet below to view the winners.

Connecticut SPJ 2015Excellence In Journalism WinnersList

Proposed slate of CTSPJ officers and board members for 2016-2017

Statement regarding state Republican Party Chairman J.R. Romano’s decision to not give credentials to a Hearst reporter for Monday’s GOP caucus

Statement regarding state Republican Party Chairman J.R. Romano’s decision to not give credentials to a Hearst reporter for Monday’s GOP caucus:

Paul Singley, president of Connecticut SPJ

“As we have seen time and again in our nation’s history, the best way to battle speech that you don’t agree with is through more speech, not by trying to stifle the speech with which you don’t agree. There are numerous ways for Mr. Romano and the state Republican Party to state their disapproval of someone’s articles, such as through letters to the editor or by commenting on the numerous social media platforms available. But stopping a journalist from doing his job on behalf of thousands of readers borders on dictatorship and is clearly something that cannot be tolerated in a country that enjoys a free press. As some statewide leaders, including Republicans, have done already, we strongly encourage Mr. Romano to reconsider.”

– Paul Singley, president, CT Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists

Early bird registration ends Monday for SPJ Region 1 conference

The conference, this upcoming Friday, April 8 and Saturday, April 9, will be at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven. It is hosted by the Journalism Department at Southern Connecticut State University and the SCSU SPJ Chapter, with support from the Connecticut Pro Chapter of SPJ.

The keynote speaker at lunch on April 9 will be John Dahl, the VP of ESPN Films. A special pizza reception will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 9.

Professional development panels will include sessions on regulations for drone journalism, Freedom of Information issues, ethics, covering college sports, writing about food and beer, book publishing, using Google Trends to improve stories, specialized reporting, entertainment writing and more.

See the program details here. Sessions begin at noon on Friday, April 8 and run until 5 p.m. The conference sessions on Saturday, April 9 begin at 8:30 a.m. and run until 6 p.m.

You can register for the conference here. Early bird registration rates are available until noon tomorrow, April 4. Rates will increase by $10 after this time.

For more information, contact conference chair Cindy Simoneau at simoneauc1@southernct.edu.

Rates

$40: students (members of SPJ. Member # required)
$45: students (non-SPJ members)
$65: professionals (members of SPJ. Member # required)
$70: professionals (non-SPJ members)

CTSPJ College Contest is now open for entries

• General Reporting
• Editorial/Op-Ed
• General Column/Commentary
• Page 1 Layout
• Non-Page 1 Layout
• News Photo
• Feature Photo
• Sports Photo
• Sports Feature Story
• Sports News Story
• Spot News
• Feature
• Video Storytelling
• Audio Storytelling

2016 Sunshine Week

Sunshine Week is a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of transparency, open government and freedom of information.

This year, Sunshine Week is March 13 to 19. This is the 10th anniversary of Sunshine Week.

In Connecticut, the board of directors of the Connecticut Council on Freedoom of Information announced its first annual Secrecy in Government Award.

Governor Dan Malloy’s heart may be in the right place, but his head isn’t. Proposing secret jurisprudence for 18-20 year olds is a bad idea. They can vote, they can go to war, they can get married and have children – but if they’re arrested and go to court no one can know about it? And once they are adjudicated secretly, then they can have their record erased as if it never happened. Too many in Connecticut government — like the Soviets who air brushed away photos of anyone they wanted forgotten — think you can erase history. You can’t. The U.S. and Connecticut constitutions guarantee a public trial. Democratic societies do not countenance secret arrests. The Connecticut General Assembly needs to quash this well-meaning but democratically unwise plan.

 UConn President Susan Herbst, Board of Trustees Chairman Lawrence D. McHugh and UConn Foundation President and CEO Joshua R. Newton receive the Secrecy in Government award for their continuous march toward closing the door on the public when they decide how to spend the public’s money. Newton tells the legislature that the Foundation needs secrecy even as the other premiere public university foundations in New England are open and subject to their states’ FOI laws. Herbst and McHugh defended secret sessions on the $1.3 billion UConn budget knowing most of the money comes from the public. UConn has even threatened to go to court to try to obtain more secrecy. We suggest they don’t spend taxpayer money fighting in court to keep their financial deliberations away from the public.

 Paul Cianelli, president of the New England Cable and Telecommunications Association receives the award for his newspeak — “Make no mistake about it — this is a tax,” in opposing CT-N’s plan to move to a cable channel and expand from two cameras at the Capitol to the ability to cover nearly all legislative, judicial and executive branch hearings. It will open government processes for all to see. A C-SPAN for Connecticut for about 40 cents a month for cable subscribers. Tax indeed.

The Norwalk Board of Education receives the Secrecy in Government Award for its astonishing written policy that, it “does not exist between meetings.” This allows board members to do board business between meetings and claim their actions are not subject to FOI laws. We hope board chair Michael Lyons follows through with his plan to erase that bylaw.

CT SPJ urges journalists in state to review, speak out on several bills

The Government Administration and Elections Committee’s March 7 public hearing includes legislation that, as written, would greatly expand when a public board or agency could call an executive session (HB 5501).  The proposal would allow public officials to close off meetings from the public for any consultation with an attorney of the public agency concerning legal matters. This is a tremendous expansion beyond what is currently allowed under the state’s Freedom of Information Act.

A second piece of legislation (HB 5512) would allow municipalities to charge additional fees whenever someone files a FOI request for commercial purposes. The bill expressly states that journalists are exempt from the legislation, although it doesn’t define what constitutes a news outlet. Additional, this bill goes against the FOI Act, which does not grant a public agency to consider the intent of a requester, and this proposal would thus go against the spirit of the FOI Act. The bill also appears to give tremendous flexibility to how much a town can charge, making it potentially cost prohibitive for a requester whose intentions are deemed to be for commercial purposes. Lastly, this bill sets a dangerous precedent in chipping away at the public’s ability to easily access information.

GAE will also hear comments on a proposal requiring the preservation of and improving access to some historical records of value (HB 5499). The bill would improve access to some government records of value, including medical records. This would allow for a better examination on the way certain health ailments or conditions were treated in the past, as well as how the medical history of historically significant people may have affected their actions.

The committee’s hearing begins at 1 p.m., or written testimony can be sent to   gaetestimony@cga.ct.gov

Testimony Sought for FOI BILLS

Connecticut SPJ’s Board of Directors strongly urges journalists and news outlets to submit testimony during public hearings this week on a number of proposed bills that affect public access to information.

The Government Administration and Elections Committee’s March 7 public hearing includes legislation that, as written, would greatly expand when a public board or agency could call an executive session (HB 5501). The proposal would allow public officials to close off meetings from the public for any consultation with an attorney of the public agency concerning legal matters. This is a tremendous expansion beyond what is currently allowed under the state’s Freedom of Information Act.

A second piece of legislation (HB 5512) would allow municipalities to charge additional fees whenever someone files a FOI request for commercial purposes. The bill expressly states that journalists are exempt from the legislation, although it doesn’t define what constitutes a news outlet. Additional, this bill goes against the FOI Act, which does not grant a public agency to consider the intent of a requester, and this proposal would thus go against the spirit of the FOI Act. The bill also appears to give tremendous flexibility to how much a town can charge, making it potentially cost prohibitive for a requester whose intentions are deemed to be for commercial purposes. Lastly, this bill sets a dangerous precedent in chipping away at the public’s ability to easily access information.

GAE will also hear comments on a proposal requiring the preservation of and improving access to some historical records of value (HB 5499). The bill would improve access to some government records of value, including medical records. This would allow for a better examination on the way certain health ailments or conditions were treated in the past, as well as how the medical history of historically significant people may have affected their actions.

The committee’s hearing begins at 1 p.m., or written testimony can be sent to gaetestimony@cga.ct.gov

The Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee will hear testimony during its March 8 public hearing on a bill that would moderately expand the amount of information that the University of Connecticut Foundation is required to make publicly available (SB 333). It would allow the foundation, though, to otherwise maintain its statutory exemption from the FOI Act.

Testimony can be sent to HEDtestimony@cga.ct.gov

New Britain Herald and Bristol Press publisher apologizes

New Britain Herald and Bristol Press publisher and editor Michael Schroeder published a note to his readers on Jan. 5.

The note apologizes for the Dec. 2 story about “Nevada-style business court system.” Schroeder had been involved in the purchase of the Las Vegas Review-Journal until the previous day when he was removed by GateHouse Media, which still manages the paper.