Kenneth Bunting, long-time professional journalist and, most recently,Executive Director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition,
died in Columbia, MO Sunday following a heart attack. He was 65.
“Ken was totally committed to open-government, freedom of the press and freedom of speech,” said FAC’s Peter Scheer, who was on NFOIC’s
board of directors during Ken’s tenure there. “He was also an extremely supportive boss and mentor to many young newspaper reporters over the years.”
Bunting held senior positions at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer from 1993 to 2010, during which time the paper won two Pulitzer prizes. He
came to the Seattle paper from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he had been city editor. In his long journalism career, Bunting also worked at the Los Angeles Times and Sacramento Bee.
Bunting left NFOIC, which has experienced funding problems, at the end of 2013. The organization, in a statement, said: “Even after he left, he continued to support NFOIC, helping to connect people looking for FOI help and reminding us of pending deadlines and First Amendment news stories of note.He was a strong voice for FOI and government transparency and a great advocate for state coalition groups trying to fight off encroachments on their open government laws.”
Bunting’s survivors include his wife Juli and son Maxwell.
In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations in Ken Bunting’s memory be made to the TCU School of Journalism Scholarship Fund. Donations should be sent to the attention of John Lumpkin, Director, TCU School of Journalism, TCU Box 298060, Fort Worth TX 76129.
Obituaries:
http://www.seattlepi.com/
http://mije.org/richardprince/