Conn. SPJ honors network with FOI award
From SPJ's Conn. Project Sunshine Chair Stephanie Reitz
HARTFORD, Conn.
-- The Connecticut Network, the statewide government and public affairs
channel, has been named the 2007 winner of the Helen M. Loy Award.
CT-N, which broadcasts statewide, will be honored at the
annual dinner of the Connecticut chapter of the Society of Professional
Journalists on Thursday, May 24, at Fantasia in North Haven.
The Connecticut chapter of the Society of Professional
Journalists gives the award each year in memory of Loy, an early Connecticut
Freedom of Information Commission member and advocate for openness.
The chapter was enthusiastic in its selection of CT-N,
noting its commitment to allowing citizens to witness and understand government
at work.
“The public's need to know and Helen Loy's vision of
freedom of information have meshed together almost seamlessly at CT-N,” SPJ
chapter president Steven Kalb said. “We honor the board and its staff for their
efforts at making the workings of government transparent to the public they
serve. We applaud their work to date and encourage them for the future.”
The addition of original programming, the variety of
events covered, the resources available on CT-N's Web site and its outreach to
the community are also laudable and worthy of recognition.
The Connecticut Network was launched in March 1999 and is
similar in format and philosophy to C-SPAN. Since its inception, it has
provided unprecedented citizen access to the state’s public policy process, and
has captured most of Connecticut government’s watershed events of the 21st
century to date.
“The Connecticut Network is delighted to receive this
award from the Society of Professional Journalists,” said Paul Giguere, the
network's president and chief executive officer.
“Since its inception, part of CT-N’s charge has been to
make state government more open, accessible, and transparent to the citizens of
our state – a goal we share in many ways with the Freedom of Information Act
itself,” he said.
“Receiving the Helen M. Loy award tells us that we are
succeeding in our charge, and it’s a testament to the hard work, passion and
dedication to connecting people and government shared by the network’s entire
staff and board of directors,” he said. “We are all deeply honored to be
recognized in this way by SPJ.”
Contact:
Steven Kalb,
SPJ: (203)
927-7921
William Bevacqua, CT-N: (860)
246-1553, Ext. 10
On the Web
www.ct-n.com
www.ctspj.org