Journalism published or broadcast during 2017 that highlights the importance of open government in advancing the public’s right to know is eligible for a $3,000 cash award offered through the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida. The Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Award is…
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The Miami Herald has been named the winner of the 30th Annual Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Award for its groundbreaking investigative series titled: “Innocents Lost.” The two award-winning Herald reporters, Carol Marbin Miller and Audra D.S. Burch, investigated Florida’s child welfare system by following the lives – and deaths –…
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The Los Angeles Times has been named the winner of the 29th Annual Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Award for its investigative series. The award-winning series titled: “Lifting a Cloak of Secrecy,” details the fight for access to information about ownership of the Los Angeles Coliseum. UF’s College of…
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The Ledger (Lakeland) has been named the winner of the 28th Annual Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Award for its investigative series. The award-winning series highlights the difficulties reporters and citizens face when they try to exercise their fundamental constitutional right to access government information. “The series exposed blatant…
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The Associated Press has been named the winner of the 27th Annual Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Award for its ground-breaking investigative series, “Access Denied,” which tested the right-to-information laws in the more than 100 counties that have them. “This series highlighted the importance of access to government information…
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The News & Observer has been named the winner of the 26th Annual Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Award for exposing how public employees who lied, cheated and stole from the taxpayers of North Carolina benefited from one of the country’s most secretive personnel records laws. The News & Observer’s coverage eventually…
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The Asbury Park Press has been named the winner of the 2010 Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Award for exposing questionable use of taxpayer dollars in New Jersey and how that state’s property tax system harms the economy. In addition, the Asbury Park Press raised awareness of a gap in the public records…
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The Detroit Free Press has been named the winner of the 2009 Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Award for exposing a pattern of abuse by former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. The Free Press’ coverage of the text message scandal eventually resulted in the mayor’s resignation and jailing. “These stories…
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The Knoxville News Sentinel was named the 2008 winner of the Joseph L. Brechner Center for Freedom of Information Award, according to Sandra F. Chance, executive director of the center. Scott Barker accepted the $3,000 check on behalf of the newspaper at the Brechner Center’s 23rd annual Freedom of Information award ceremony…
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Two reporters from The Miami Herald are the recipients of the 22nd annual Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Award for their work on an investigation that uncovered illegal case sealing practices in the Broward court system and beyond. Patrick Danner and Dan Christensen revealed that the Broward courts had…
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A groundbreaking, detailed series by The Associated Press that examined the treatment and prosecution of detainees at Guantanamo Bay was named the winner of the 2006 Joseph L. Brechner Center for Freedom of Information Award, according to Sandra F. Chance, executive director of the Brechner Center. “Guantanamo Exposed” was written…
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A hard-hitting investigative series by the Argus Leader was named the 2005 winner of the Joseph L. Brechner Center for Freedom of Information Award, according to Sandra F. Chance, executive director of the Brechner Center. The series uncovered the secret and illegal sealing of criminal pardons in South Dakota. The…
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