Call for Nominations for Annual Bill Farr Award
The California First Amendment Coalition and the California Society of Newspaper Editors are seeking nominations for the 2007 Bill Farr Award, given each year to an individual or group for exemplary work to further principles of free speech, free press and public access to government.
The award is given in honor of former Los Angeles Herald Examiner reporter Bill Farr, who went to jail in 1971 after refusing to reveal the names of confidential sources for his reporting on the infamous Charles Manson case.
Deadline for award nominations is September 25.
The award will be presented at CFAC’s annual Free Speech and Open Government Assembly at the USC Annenberg School for Communication, October 25 & 26.
Qualifications for the award are exemplary accomplishment, service or other contributions to “the people’s right to know” in California. The winner will be an individual or institution whose actions deserve public honor and emulation.
Areas vital in the struggle for open government include access to public meetings, public records and courts; defense of citizens’ right to speak; defense of journalists’ rights; and defense of the right to “blow the whistle” and alert the public to matters of common concern.
Last year, the award was presented to the San Francisco Chronicle for its reporting on secret pay and perks to University of California administrators, and for its costly, long-term and ultimately successful legal battle to resist grand jury subpoenas demanding its reporters’ confidential sources for news stories about use of performance-enhancing drugs by professional athletes (the “BALCO investigation).
Deadline for nominations is September 25.
Send nominations with supporting material for the Bill Farr award to:
Bill Farr Award
California First Amendment Coalition
534 Fourth St., Suite B
San Rafael, CA 94901
Or by E-mail to: Farr.Award@cfac.org
Or by FAX 415-460-5155
Please be sure to send documentation for your nomination as well as contact information for yourself and for the nominee.