The Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information will honor lawmakers, public officials and a journalist who have supported government transparency in Connecticut.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Colleen Murphy will be awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognizes an individual who has devoted his or her career to government transparency. Murphy retired as executive director and general counsel of the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission after 35 years at the agency. Prior to be appointing Executive Director in 2005 she served as the Commission’s Managing Director, and, before that, as a member of its legal staff.
Stephen A. Collins Award
Katherine Revello, a reporter for Inside Investigator, will receive the Stephen A. Collins Award, which recognizes outstanding work by a journalist. Revello has produced dozens of stories about the use and misuse of the Freedom of Information Act by state and local government entities. She covers both statewide issues, including legislative proposals and FOIC decisions, and local FOI cases and disputes.
Some of her recent bylines on FOI issues include:
- Transparency Update: How to FOI sexual misconduct records
- Adjournment kills FOI exemptions
- $300,000 to study FOIA? We could do it for free
Bice Clemow Award
Comptroller Sean Scanlon will be honored with the Bice Clemow Award, which is given to a non-journalist who has shown leadership in supporting government openness. Scanlon has called out the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system for its refusal to release information regarding misconduct by college officials.
Champion of Open Government Awards
Two state lawmakers will receive the Champion of Open Government Award, for officials who advocate for the public’s right to know.
State Rep. Roland Lemar is a Democrat who chairs the General Law Committee, and is from New Haven. Both have been staunch supporters of the state’s FOI Act.
State Sen. Heather Somers, a senior deputy Republican leader, represents eight southeastern Connecticut towns.
CT Journalism and Open Government Awards
They will be recognized at an awards dinner on June 10.
Two of the state’s preeminent journalism organizations, the CT chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (CT SPJ) and the Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information (CCFOI), will host a joint awards dinner for the first time. It will be held at Farmington Gardens, 999 Farmington Ave., Farmington.
The dinner will begin at 6 p.m. with a happy hour followed by a buffet dinner, presentation of awards and the CT Journalism Hall of Fame ceremony.
Tickets cost $45 and are available here.