Forget Miller: Another SPJ Honoree Gets Flak

By: Mark Fitzgerald Already under fire in some quarters for its plans to honor New York Times reporter Judith Miller with its First Amendment Award Tuesday, the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) reaffirmed its intention to bestow a similar award to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan -- despite a last-minute campaign against the decision.

Madigan is widely regarded in Illinois as a champion of public access to government information and meetings. In 2003, the Illinois Press Association cited her "commitment to principles of a free and open government" when it honored her with its Legislative Service Award.

However, when SPJ announced its plan to honor Madigan with its 2005 National Sunshine Award at its annual convention in Las Vegas this week, the choice sparked opposition from a student newspaper in Texas as well as and an Illinois environmental group.

The Daily Texan, the student newspaper for the University of Texas at Austin, urged SPJ not to honor Madigan, saying in an editorial that "she is responsible for a court case that makes the jobs of student journalists much more difficult."

The case referred to involved student journalists at Governors State University in Illinois, who sued the dean over a policy requiring prior approval of content before the paper could be printed. The students won on appeal to a three-judge panel, but Madigan petitioned the appellate court for a hearing before the full 11-judge court. In that appeal, a majority of judges ruled that university officials have the same powers over a school newspaper as high school principals and administrators were given in 1988's so-called Hazelwood decision.

Also opposing the award to Madigan is the Illinois Dunesland Preservation Society. In a lengthy letter to SPJ, which he copied to numerous parties including E&P, the group?s president, Paul A. Kakuris, accuses Madigan of numerous abuses of the press and open government. A particular focus is on the fact that a task force Madigan formed to investigate asbestos contamination in a state park does not permit public access to its meetings.

The attorney general's office has said the state's strong open meetings law does not apply to the task force -- composed of representatives from various Illinois and U.S. government agencies -- because it is not a public body.

Despite the controversy, SPJ's board of directors on Saturday affirmed its decision to go ahead with the award, the organization's incoming president, David Carlson, said in a telephone interview Monday.

As in the award to Miller, Carlson said, "It's one of the cases where we don't like everything this woman does; however, she has really shined a light on public records in Illinois."

Carlson noted that Madigan was nominated by the Chicago Headline Club, SPJ's professional chapter in Chicago. He said he had no way of verifying the allegations of the Illinois Dunes Society, but that he could not imagine the Headline Club would have nominated Madigan if those allegations were true (* see clarification below).

On the student newspaper case, which is known as Hosty v. Carter, Carlson said that Madigan did not originate the case, but was obligated as the state's lawyer to act on the state's behalf.

The award is not an endorsement of the state's position in that case, he said. "We abhor what is going on in Hosty," said Carlson, who is director of the Interactive Media Laboratory at the University of Florida.

Clarification: After this article was first posted, David Carlson said in an e-mail to E&P that he wanted to be clear that he had no way of verifying the allegations made by the Illinois Dunes Society.