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Newspaper Guild Honors Crusading, Courageous Journalists
The New York Times' fight to preserve a free press in the face of government threats and a Washington Post reporter's series on abuse and neglect in Virginia's assisted living centers took top honors at The Newspaper Guild-CWA's annual Freedom Award Fund banquet March 30 in Washington, D.C.
In a keynote speech between awards, veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas offered a no-punches-pulled assessment of today's media, assailing the Washington press corps for failing to hold the Bush administration accountable on everything from the Iraq war to unjust budget and tax policies.
"My hope is that the press will remember that it has a special role to play in a democracy—to follow the truth wherever it leads us, to protect the Constitution against the administration onslaught in the name of patriotism," Thomas said.
Her audience of some of journalism's heavyweights included New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr., who followed Thomas on stage to accept the Herbert Block Freedom Award on behalf of the men and women of his newspaper.
"Helen Thomas, that was spectacular," Sulzberger said. "I'm wearing a button that says 'Real patriots defend the Constitution' and I think you ought to have it." And he gave to her.
The New York Times staff was selected for the Freedom Award because of its commitment to news source confidentiality in the face of government intimidation and threats to jail reporters who refuse to divulge news sources.
In the past year, the government has issued subpoenas demanding the identities of unnamed sources from four Times journalists—Judith Miller, Phiilip Shenon, Jeff Gerth and James Risen. Miller, who is being held in contempt of court and could go to jail, was subpoenaed to testify about a conversation she had with a confidential source regarding Valerie Plame, an undercover CIA agent whose identity was reportedly leaked by senior White House officials.
Further, Miller and Shenon have had their phone records subpoenaed to identify their sources in a case involving leaks about governmental activities against two Islamic charities suspected of funding terrorism. A federal judge recently upheld the newspapers' right to withhold their records.
Gerth and Risen are also being held in contempt of court. They have refused to reveal their sources in the investigation of nuclear physicist Wen Ho Lee. Additionally, Times reporter Joseph Fried and freelance reporter George Packer were subpoenaed in 2004 to testify in the terrorism case against New York defense attorney Lynn Stewart. They refused, and the case was wrapped up in January without their testimony.
"What really stood out for us and helped us make our decision is the fact that the entire organization has supported these writers from the very beginning," said Linda Foley, president of TNG-CWA and chair of the award committee. "That kind of commitment to a free and robust press is something Herbert Block would be proud to honor."
The annual award, which comes with a $5,000 prize that the Times is donating to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, is given to an organization or individual who exemplifies the deeply held ideals of long-time Guild member and renowned Washington Post editorial cartoonist Herbert Block. Publishing under the name Herblock, he had a profound compassion for the disadvantaged and a distrust of unbridled power.
Sulzberger said he and his staff are deeply honored by the award, which recognizes that "the fight for a free press is a fight for a free people," a fight he said is equally important to labor and management in the newspaper business. The award, "makes me realize that we may occasionally disagree around the bargaining table, but at the center we share core journalistic values," he said.
The 64th annual Heywood Broun award, named for the newspaper columnist who became the Guild's first president in the 1930s, went to Washington Post reporter David Fallis. His four-part series exposed terrible conditions and questionable deaths in Virginia's assisted living industry, a patchwork of more than 600 privately-run homes for disabled adults.
The panel of judges said his series "painted a devastating picture of a dysfunctional system and was presented in a vivid, compelling narrative rich with facts and individual human stories." The series prompted immediate action from state agencies and a push for reform by Gov. Mark Warner, leading to a task force studying the problems Fallis documented.
The Broun award comes with a $5,000 prize. Two $1,000 awards of substantial distinction were also presented. In the print category, the judges hailed a series by Kevin Fagan of the San Francisco Chronicle called "Shame of the City," that examined the city's homelessness crisis. The judges also honored a broadcast entry from ABC News PrimeTime that exposed medical missteps and poor quality of care at Veterans Administration hospitals. The winners were selected from among 133 entries from across the United States and Canada.
The event also honored two scholastic journalists with the David S. Barr Award, named for the Guild's late attorney and mentor.
Bana Varnon, 17, a student at Dayton High School in Dayton, Texas, won a $500 scholarship for investigating, documenting and defending her First Amendment rights when her principal censored an opinion column and then tried to shut down the school's newspaper.
The college prize, a $1,500 scholarship, went to Virginia Moore, 19, a student at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash. Her entry, "Unfairly Dressed," ran in the Anchorage Daily News and documented the unfair labor practices used by many clothing companies popular with American teenagers.
In a keynote speech between awards, veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas offered a no-punches-pulled assessment of today's media, assailing the Washington press corps for failing to hold the Bush administration accountable on everything from the Iraq war to unjust budget and tax policies.
"My hope is that the press will remember that it has a special role to play in a democracy—to follow the truth wherever it leads us, to protect the Constitution against the administration onslaught in the name of patriotism," Thomas said.
Her audience of some of journalism's heavyweights included New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr., who followed Thomas on stage to accept the Herbert Block Freedom Award on behalf of the men and women of his newspaper.
"Helen Thomas, that was spectacular," Sulzberger said. "I'm wearing a button that says 'Real patriots defend the Constitution' and I think you ought to have it." And he gave to her.
The New York Times staff was selected for the Freedom Award because of its commitment to news source confidentiality in the face of government intimidation and threats to jail reporters who refuse to divulge news sources.
In the past year, the government has issued subpoenas demanding the identities of unnamed sources from four Times journalists—Judith Miller, Phiilip Shenon, Jeff Gerth and James Risen. Miller, who is being held in contempt of court and could go to jail, was subpoenaed to testify about a conversation she had with a confidential source regarding Valerie Plame, an undercover CIA agent whose identity was reportedly leaked by senior White House officials.
Further, Miller and Shenon have had their phone records subpoenaed to identify their sources in a case involving leaks about governmental activities against two Islamic charities suspected of funding terrorism. A federal judge recently upheld the newspapers' right to withhold their records.
Gerth and Risen are also being held in contempt of court. They have refused to reveal their sources in the investigation of nuclear physicist Wen Ho Lee. Additionally, Times reporter Joseph Fried and freelance reporter George Packer were subpoenaed in 2004 to testify in the terrorism case against New York defense attorney Lynn Stewart. They refused, and the case was wrapped up in January without their testimony.
"What really stood out for us and helped us make our decision is the fact that the entire organization has supported these writers from the very beginning," said Linda Foley, president of TNG-CWA and chair of the award committee. "That kind of commitment to a free and robust press is something Herbert Block would be proud to honor."
The annual award, which comes with a $5,000 prize that the Times is donating to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, is given to an organization or individual who exemplifies the deeply held ideals of long-time Guild member and renowned Washington Post editorial cartoonist Herbert Block. Publishing under the name Herblock, he had a profound compassion for the disadvantaged and a distrust of unbridled power.
Sulzberger said he and his staff are deeply honored by the award, which recognizes that "the fight for a free press is a fight for a free people," a fight he said is equally important to labor and management in the newspaper business. The award, "makes me realize that we may occasionally disagree around the bargaining table, but at the center we share core journalistic values," he said.
The 64th annual Heywood Broun award, named for the newspaper columnist who became the Guild's first president in the 1930s, went to Washington Post reporter David Fallis. His four-part series exposed terrible conditions and questionable deaths in Virginia's assisted living industry, a patchwork of more than 600 privately-run homes for disabled adults.
The panel of judges said his series "painted a devastating picture of a dysfunctional system and was presented in a vivid, compelling narrative rich with facts and individual human stories." The series prompted immediate action from state agencies and a push for reform by Gov. Mark Warner, leading to a task force studying the problems Fallis documented.
The Broun award comes with a $5,000 prize. Two $1,000 awards of substantial distinction were also presented. In the print category, the judges hailed a series by Kevin Fagan of the San Francisco Chronicle called "Shame of the City," that examined the city's homelessness crisis. The judges also honored a broadcast entry from ABC News PrimeTime that exposed medical missteps and poor quality of care at Veterans Administration hospitals. The winners were selected from among 133 entries from across the United States and Canada.
The event also honored two scholastic journalists with the David S. Barr Award, named for the Guild's late attorney and mentor.
Bana Varnon, 17, a student at Dayton High School in Dayton, Texas, won a $500 scholarship for investigating, documenting and defending her First Amendment rights when her principal censored an opinion column and then tried to shut down the school's newspaper.
The college prize, a $1,500 scholarship, went to Virginia Moore, 19, a student at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash. Her entry, "Unfairly Dressed," ran in the Anchorage Daily News and documented the unfair labor practices used by many clothing companies popular with American teenagers.