2004 CFAC Assembly Awards, October 9, 2004

Click on the small images or links below to see the citation and a larger image. Click here to see a group photo of all the award receipients.

Bill Farr Award

Tom Newton
Tom Newton, general counsel of the California Newspaper Publishers Association, for his success and indefatigability in the fight to resist laws that shut down public access, and his aggressive promotion of laws that enhance access.



Beacon Awards

Contra Costa Times
The Contra Costa Times, for a comprehensive series on local government compliance-or lack thereof‹with public record laws. Award recipient: editor John Armstrong.



Donna Frye and Toni Atkins
San Diego Council Members Donna Frye and Toni Atkins, who, fed up with the Council's promiscuous use of "closed" sessions, announced they wouldn't attend future meetings unless open to the public.

George Kennedy
Santa Clara County District Attorney George Kennedy, for doing the unthinkable in an investigation of two fatal police shootings: he opened the traditionally secret grand jury proceedings so that press and public could have confidence in the outcomes.


Oakland Tribune
The Oakland Tribune, for publishing and litigating aggressively in the face of a legal assault by Jones, Day, a huge international law firm. Award recipients: executive editor Kevin Keane and reporter Ian Hoffman.



Denny Walsh
Denny Walsh, Pulitzer Prize winning reporter at the Sacramento Bee, for a career of zealously and successfully pursuing public records that government officials were loathe to disclose. Walsh's prize was presented by Gary Truit, the CEO and President of McClatchy Newspapers.

Watchourcity.com
Watchourcity.com, a courageously innovative, muckraking web site that focuses like a laser on the political, financial and legal shenanigans of the local government of Huntington Park in southern California. The masked award recipient is Watchourcity¹s founder and editor, who is anonymous because he fears reprisals.


Darkness Award

City of Oakland
In the anti-award category, the City of Oakland was recognized for bowing to political pressure in deciding that it would no longer disclose the names and salaries of municipal employee making $100,000 or more.