'Sun-Times' Publisher Honored For Ethics

By: E&P Staff Chicago Sun-Times Publisher John Cruickshank will be awarded the Chicago Headline Club's "Ethics in Journalism Award" next week for uncovering and disclosing circulation fraud at the tabloid.

The club, a chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, said the annual award recognizes journalists and news organizations for "performing in a highly distinguished ethical and sensitive manner." The club noted that soon after being named publisher, Cruickshank disclosed the Sun-Times had inflated it circulation by as much as 50,000 copies a day for as long as eight years. "He was successful in urging the newspaper's parent company, Hollinger International Inc., to report the irregularities to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Attorney's office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and to the public," the club said in a statement.

Anna Davlantes, an anchor and reporter at the NBC owned-and-operated TV station WMAQ, will also receive an ethics award for reporting on the sale of a golf dome in the Chicago suburb of Bridgeview despite repeated threats and intimidation by figures involved in the controversial deal.

The Ethics in Journalism Awards will be presented along with the Peter Lisagor Awards for Exemplary Journalism at an April 29 banquet in Chicago. Matt Cooper, the Time magazine White House correspondent threatened with jail for refusing to disclose sources in the Valerie Plame case, will be the guest speaker. Information about the event is available at the club's Web site.