Open Government News

Sunshine Litigation Award

The James C. Adkins/Sunshine Litigation Award was created to recognize the importance and continuing value of Justice Adkins' open government opinions while on the Florida Supreme Court and is given to an attorney in Florida who has made a significant contribution to the cause of furthering open government through litigation. The award presentation takes place during the annual meeting of the Florida Press Association and Florida Society of Newspaper Editors .

Sunshine Week Awards

The Sunshine Award recognizes the best political cartoon, op-ed/editorial, and article on open government for Sunshine Week. Sunshine Week is a national initiative to open a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. An award will be granted for each of the three categories. There is no submission fee, and any article that is posted to the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors website (www.fsne.org) is automatically entered in the contest.

2011

The 2011 awards were judged by Lucy Dalglish, Executive Director of the Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press and incoming President of the National Freedom of Information Coalition Board of Directors. The Sunshine Awards were presented at the annual Florida Press Association and Florida Society of Newspaper Editors awards dinner on Friday, June 30 at The Vinoy in St. Petersburg.

• Best Article - Michael Bender, St. Petersburg Times
• Best Political Cartoon - Jeff Parker, Florida Today
• Best Editorial - The Palm Beach Post
• Best Column - Patsy Palmer, Esq., D’Alemberte & Palmer

2010

The 2010 awards were judged by Mitch Pearlman, former Executive Director and General Counsel of the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission, and currently a trustee of the National Freedom of Information Coalition. In picking this year's winners, Mitch noted that he "found all the entries interesting and illuminating and especially pertinent during Sunshine Week. Thus, it was a difficult task to select the winning entries."

• Best Article - Marty Merzer, Associated Press
• Best Editorial - St. Augustine Record
• Best Political Cartoon - Jeff Parker, Florida Today

2009

The 2009 awards were judged by Tom O'Hara, former managing editor of the Palm Beach Post and The Cleveland Plain-Dealer. Tom serves on the board of the National Freedom of Information Coalition and teaches in the communications program at Ohio State University. The Sunshine Awards were presented at the annual Florida Press Association and Florida Society of Newspaper Editors awards luncheon on Friday, July 10 at the Breakers hotel in West Palm Beach.

• Best Column - Jane Healy, Orlando Sentinel
• Best Editorial - Florida Today
• Best Political Cartoon - Rob Smith, Jr.

2008

The Sunshine awards were judged by Professor Charles Davis, professor of journalism at the University of Missouri/Columbia, and executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition. The Sunshine Awards were presented at the annual Florida Press Association and Florida Society of Newspaper Editors awards luncheon on Friday, June 6 at the Hilton in the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista.

The 2008 Sunshine Award winners are:

• Best Column - Matt Reed, Florida Today
• Best Editorial - The Ledger
• Best Political Cartoon - Ed Hall, The St. Augustine Record