Readers: Apologies for tooting my own horn here, but I did want to reflect how seriously SPJ takes the issue.
Press release, Sept. 4, from Society of Professional Journalists:
Foxhall named Wells Key winner for work against controls on reporters through public information offices
INDIANAPOLIS -- The Society of Professional Journalists honors Kathryn Foxhall with the Wells Memorial Key. This award is the highest honor for an SPJ member and was officially presented
tonight at the President’s Awards Ceremony during the SPJ21 conference.
Foxhall was previously informed of her honor over Zoom by friends and
colleagues.
“Thank you,” said Foxhall, a member of the SPJ Freedom of Information Committee.
“We now have over four million pandemic dead.
For over two decades public health agencies, including the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, have controlled
public scrutiny of themselves. Reporters are kept out of buildings, not allowed
to speak to anyone without the bosses’ censors, and often not allowed to speak
to anyone at all,” Foxhall said.
“Psychologist Daniel Kahneman talks about the
human bias of, ‘What you see is all there is.’ The press gets what it can and
mostly does not tell the public about the controls, preferring to believe
whatever we get is all there is,” Foxhall continued. “Now the nation finds our
structures were not prepared for a vast crisis. The U.S. has lost life
expectancy at a rate 8.5 times higher than the average of 16 other high-income
nations.
“Similar controls have surged in state and
local governments, police departments, schools, businesses and other entities,
public and private. The restraints have become part of the culture,” she said.
“This is deep corruption for both the people in power and the press. Freedom of
expression is not just an ideal or a liberty. It’s how we cooperate, shield
people from abuse and survive.”
Foxhall has been an active member of SPJ for
nearly 12 years. Within that time, she has given many years of dedicated
service to the Washington D.C., Pro Chapter and
is one of its most active and participatory members.
Around 2009, she began communicating with SPJ
about excessive controls over public information officers, an issue that
received very little attention previously. Almost singlehandedly, she gradually
convinced others of the great harm caused by employee gag policies and the
fear-based censorship they create.
The PIO issue was on the FOI Committee’s
meeting agenda at an SPJ conference the following year because of her as
efforts. Other journalism organizations also took notice and began pushing back
against the controls. She presented the issue and insisted the biggest need was
for some research to document the extent of the problem.
From this, two surveys were conducted: one
with Washington, D.C.-area reporters and another with members of the National
Association of Government Communicators. This prompted a series of annual
surveys – which were timed to be released during Sunshine Week –
documenting the relationship between reporters and PIOs, showing how the
situation has continually worsened.
Foxhall inspired initiatives during Sunshine
Week, including a letter issued to the Obama administration, which resulted in
an in-person meeting between SPJ and White House staff, a new webpage with
resources, events at the National Press Club and more.
She has written extensively about the PIO
problem and has been quoted in Quill, The Washington Post, Columbia Journalism
Review and dozens of regional outlets. Foxhall has even created a committee
dedicated solely to the issue through the D.C. chapter. Owing to her efforts,
the Knight Columbia Institute made removing government-imposed gag orders its
first “to-do” priority for the incoming Biden administration.
Foxhall is now working with SPJ Foundation Board member
Frank LoMonte on identifying potential avenues for legal challenge to bring
“test cases” that would clarify the First Amendment rights of employees to
speak to journalists, and journalists’ rights to receive that information. She
has been tireless in finding pro-bono legal representation for those brave
enough to initiate legal challenges.
Friends and colleagues shared some of the many
reasons for her nomination:
“Sometimes it takes just one person to lead
the charge, to take the hits and confront doubt and apathy head on,” Former SPJ
President David Cuillier said. “She did this well, and for that she deserves
the Society’s highest honor.”
“And I cannot think of anyone else in SPJ who
has devoted so much of their time and so much energy to an issue so important
and so relevant to SPJ’s core principles,” Former SPJ President Carolyn S.
Carlson said.
“The Wells Key can honor service to the SPJ
over the preceding year or over a lifetime,” LoMonte said. “By either measure,
Kathryn Foxhall is a worthy and deserving recipient. She is one of the die-hard
true-believers keeping the mission of the SPJ alive in challenging times.”
SPJ promotes the free flow of
information vital to informing citizens; works to inspire and educate the next
generation of journalists; and fights to protect First Amendment guarantees of
freedom of speech and press. Support excellent journalism and fight for your
right to know. Become a member, give
to the Legal Defense Fund or give to the SPJ Foundation.
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