Irvine : Freedom of Information Panel Presents Awards

Two freedom of information awards--one recognizing a reporter’s career in pursuit of press freedom and the other applauding a newspaper’s fight to keep courts open--were announced by the California Freedom of Information Committee.

Winners of the committee’s first awards were Bill Farr of the Los Angeles Times and the County Telegram-Tribune of San Luis Obispo.

The awards, announced Thursday by the statewide committee of print and broadcast news media, were presented Saturday during the annual convention of the California Society of Newspaper Editors at the Irvine Marriott hotel.

Farr, who gained fame when he spent 46 days in jail to protect the confidentiality of a source for a story on the Charles Manson murder case, was cited for “a career devoted to keeping a free press free.”

Farr has served for 12 years on the board of trustees of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of Information, has been a member of the Board of Directors of Investigative Reporters and Editors and spent two years as president of the Greater Los Angeles Press Club. In 1983 he was chosen a fellow of the Society of Professional Journalists (SDX) and lectured on freedom of information matters at the University of Oregon. Last year, the Los Angeles chapter of SDX chose Farr as the first reporter to receive its freedom of information award.

The County Telegram-Tribune was cited for “consistent and effective work in freedom of information in San Luis Obispo.”

Over a period of four years, the newspaper has repeatedly taken legal and other action to ensure public and press access to courts and other governmental proceedings in its county.

“The public’s right to know what is going on in San Luis Obispo County is being eroded like a piece of soft sandstone on the ocean’s edge,” editor George DeBord wrote in a prize-winning editorial that reviewed the newspaper’s efforts to keep public information public.

Beginning in 1982, the newspaper’s lawyers went to court to challenge the closure of preliminary hearings in criminal cases. When such requests were turned down, they filed appeals. In cases where court documents were sealed, the Telegram-Tribune lawyer hand-delivered letters to law enforcement officials demanding their release. In at least two cases, the documents were opened to the public.