The Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, in partnership with MuckRock, has named the winners of the inaugural Sunshine Fest 2025 Logo and Slogan Contest. Sunshine Fest will honor the 20th anniversary of Sunshine Week, March 16- 22, 2025,…
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The Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) has awarded the 2025 Brechner Freedom of Information Award to St. Louis Public Radio, APM Reports and The Marshall Project for their collaborative investigative project, “Unsolved.” This groundbreaking project has been…
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Nominations are now open for the 2025 Student Freedom of Information Award, presented by the Student Press Law Center and sponsored by the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida. The award honors students or student teams whose investigative reporting has promoted transparency and highlighted…
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The seventh annual Freedom of Information Research Competition, sponsored by the National Freedom of Information Coalition and University of Florida Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project, welcomes one-page proposals for papers that shed light on freedom of information. The top three papers will earn cash prizes and will be…
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Entries for the 2025 Brechner Freedom of Information Award are being accepted through Jan. 10, 2025, to recognize outstanding records-based news reporting aired or published during 2024. The award has been presented annually since 1986 by the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida College…
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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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