Senate leader now says he'd vote against birth date bill; Dueling op-ed columns in The Oklahoman debate issue

Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn Coffee now says he will vote against a bill exempting public employee birth dates if the legislation returns to the Senate, The Oklahoman reported this morning.

The Oklahoma City Republican had his chance to vote against SB 1753 last week when it passed the Senate by a 44-0 vote with no discussion or debate on the floor. Instead, he voted for it, the newspaper reported.

Coffee told The Oklahoman he did not support the bill approved by the Senate.

"Upon further review, I think I would have changed my vote,” Coffee said.

Would have? Wish he had done it the first time. But better late than never.

Unless the House changes the legislation, it won't be returning to the Senate, reporters Julie Bisbee and Michael McNutt noted.

However, the bill doesn't have a title, which it must have to become law. A title can be added any time in the legislative process, the newspaper pointed out.

So to become law, the bill would be headed back to the Senate.

Before that, the bill must go through a House committee to be heard by the full House. Along the way, we expect the 12 House members who've signed FOI Oklahoma's Open Government Pledge to live up to that promise to support the public's right to know. (See the 2008 and 2009 signers.)

The bill's House author, Rep. Randy Terrill, told the newspaper he wants to work on the wording of the measure to come up with a "clearly defined, reasonable criteria that strikes the balance between the public’s right to know and the individual’s right of privacy.”

The Moore Republican indicated that balance might not be achieved this legislative session.

In the meantime, perhaps legislators will speak to data privacy experts such as Richard J.H. Varn, who will be addressing the March 13 conference on open government issues.

The former Iowa legislator will explain how improved identity management technology and practices, along with public education on self-protection measures, would be more effective defenses against identity theft.

The Oklahoman today published opposing viewpoints on the bill by Mark Thomas of the Oklahoma Press Association and Sterling Zearley of the Oklahoma Public Employees Association. Both deserve a close reading with an open mind.

One point, however, deserves a comment here. Zearley said the public should be entitled to know the birth dates of The Oklahoman's reporters because his subscription helps pay their salaries. Zearley is equating his subscription fee with taxes.

But paying for a subscription to The Oklahoman is a voluntary choice. Paying local and state taxes isn't one.

Birth dates. Identity theft. The public's need to know. This is a complicated issue that requires more than simplistic, bumper sticker solutions. It requires an informed debate.

FOI Oklahoma Inc. hopes to add to that debate at its conference March 13 in Oklahoma City. The deadline for early registration is March 10. If you're interested in this issue, please register and attend.


Joey Senat, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
OSU School of Journalism

Oklahoma Sunshine ’10: Privacy, Politicians & the Public's Need to Know

Kick off Sunshine Week with FOI Oklahoma’s 2010 Sunshine Conference

• Birth dates. Public records. Identity theft. As state legislators consider exempting birth dates of government employees from the Open Records Act, an expert on data privacy will explain what should really worry us and how to better protect ourselves.


• Ask candidates for governor and attorney general where they stand on open government issues. Scheduled to attend: Gubernatorial candidates Randy Brogdon, Drew Edmondson and Robert Hubbard; and Jim Priest, candidate for attorney general.


• Learn from a Capitol-insider about state legislation aimed at the public’s right to know.


• Celebrate 20 years of FOI Oklahoma Inc.


• Recipients of FOI Oklahoma's three annual FOI awards will be announced during the conference luncheon.


• March 13, 2010 (9 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.)
• The Oklahoman, 9000 N. Broadway, Oklahoma City
  
  Registration Form


• Early registration must be received by March 10.
  
  
  
  • Non-members: $30
    (Includes lunch & one-year membership in FOI Oklahoma)
  
  
  • College/High School Students: $15
    (Includes lunch & one-year membership in FOI Oklahoma)
  
  
  • FOI Oklahoma Inc. Members: $10
  
  
  • Additional $5 for registrations received after March 10
    
    Make check or money order payable to FOI Oklahoma.
    
    Mail payment to:
    Oklahoma Sunshine '10
    Oklahoma Library Association
    300 Hardy Drive, Edmond, OK 73013
    405–525–5100 • Fax: 405–525–5103
    Kay Boies: kboies@sbcglobal.net
    
    Purchase Orders, and Visa and MasterCard payments can also be accepted. Please contact Kay Boies at the Oklahoma Library Association.

Tulsa World: Why birth dates of government employees are important to the public

A Tulsa World editorial today criticized the state Senate for moving last week to exempt public employee birth dates from the Open Records Act.

Like this blog did Friday, the editorial noted that senators passed the bill with no debate or questions.

The editorial also demonstrated how access to the information can help prevent the wrong people from being identified as criminals. Thirty-three state legislators' names match those of felons listed in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections database.

The editorial also pointed to the newspaper's investigation years ago that found more than 200 school district employees "were arrested and jailed in Tulsa County for various offenses, including felonies. Some of the employees had arrest records prior to their employment and others got into trouble with the law after they were employed."

As a result of the reporting, legislators "tightened up requirements on school districts to check out the public records of their employees."

"The investigation wouldn't have been possible — and the felons would still be in the school house — if birth dates were kept secret," the editorial explained.

"Some people want to keep their secrets secret," the newspaper concluded. "The public should know that the secret to transparent government is a dedication to open records that are accessible and usable."

At the March 13 FOI conference in Oklahoma City, an internationally recognized expert on data privacy will explain why exempting birth dates from public records won't lessen the threat of identity theft.

He also will explain how improved identity management technology and practices, along with public education on self-protection measures, would be more effective defenses.


Joey Senat, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
OSU School of Journalism

Tulsa World donates $2,500 of reimbursed legal fees to FOI Oklahoma Inc.

The Tulsa World's years-long court battle to obtain public records from a state agency will help fund open government training for reporters, the newspaper announced Sunday.

The state Department of Public Safety has agreed to pay $60,000 to reimburse the Tulsa World for legal fees incurred by the newspaper during its successful effort to obtain records from the agency.

The newspaper's legal fees totaled more than $90,000.

The Tulsa World will donate $2,500 of the reimbursed fees to FOI Oklahoma to pay for open government training for professional and student journalists.

Thank you to the Tulsa World not only for the donation but also for its tenacity in obtaining the records.

State Senate unanimously exempts public employee birth dates with no debate; Privacy expert to speak about issue at Sunshine Week conference

At the urging of the state employees association, the Senate on Thursday approved a bill that would exempt public employees' birth dates from the Open Records Act.

The 44-0 vote came after no debate or questions.

But such an important issue deserves plenty of debate and questions as this legislation goes to the House for consideration.

Prior to the Senate vote, the Oklahoma Public Employees Association encouraged its members to ask their senators to vote for SB 1753. In an e-mail, the OPEA said:

State employees’ duties often bring them in contact with the public in safety, protection of the most vulnerable and regulatory functions. Child welfare workers, corrections and probation officers, or benefit workers can be stalked by criminals or disgruntled members of the public with whom they have come in contact through the performance of their job duties. Employees’ birthdates can also be used by identity thieves to access bank accounts and credit of public workers.

The OPEA touts the Senate vote as one of its "first wins of the legislative session."

“In this day of identity theft and fraud, we need to make sure these private records are kept confidential," said OPEA Executive Director Sterling Zearley. "We now look forward to working with the House of Representatives to secure passage of this very important piece of legislation.”

But an internationally recognized expert on data privacy disagrees with Zearley.

Richard J. H. Varn says identity theft is a real problem but public records aren't the source of that problem. Exempting the information, however, does create a privacy problem.

When public identifiers are not made public, it is nearly impossible to distinguish one person from another. It leads to more false positives and false negatives, Varn told the National Freedom of Information Coalition conference this past summer.

For example, when The Oklahoman compared January’s state payroll data to the state sex offender registry, the newspaper found 778 state employees who share first and last names with registered sex offenders.

"Without dates of birth, which are included in the sex offender registry, it is impossible to determine whether these workers may be sex offenders," the newspaper noted.

State law already exempts public employees' Social Security numbers, home addresses and telephone numbers. SB 1753 would make it virtually impossible to determine if those employees have committed crimes, evaded paying taxes, filed for bankruptcy or made political contributions.

Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn Coffee told The Oklahoman he has some reservation about the bill even though he voted for it.

"Further discussion is necessary before a bill like that would become law,” the Oklahoma City Republican said.

That discussion should include experts such as Varn who can educate legislators on the realities of identity crimes.

As keynote speaker for the March 13 FOI conference in Oklahoma City, the former Iowa legislator will explain how improved identity management technology and practices, along with public education on self-protection measures, would be more effective defenses against identity theft.

Varn is the chief information officer for the city of San Antonio and director of The Coalition for Sensible Public Records Access. He was the first Iowa legislator to install and use a computer in the legislative chambers. He later created and served as director of that state's first Information Technology Department. Varn, who also has a law degree, is an internationally recognized expert and leader in information technology, privacy, identity security, public policy, and digital government.

Just the sort of person our legislators should speak with before turning SB 1753 into law.

For more discussion and information on the bill and related issues:

• How many state employees are sex offenders?, DataWatch blog by Paul Monies of The Oklahoman.
• Senate OKs birthdate-secrecy bill, by Barbara Hoberock of The Tulsa World.
• Oklahoma Senate bill keeps birth dates private for public employees, by Julie Bisbee of The Oklahoman.
  
• State Senate bill would exempt government employees' birth dates from Open Records Act, make identifying public employees virtually impossible, by FOI Oklahoma Blog.
• Understanding the Access Debate, a series of white papers by The Coalition for Sensible Public Records Access.
  

Joey Senat, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
OSU School of Journalism

Monday is deadline for annual FOI awards

Monday is the deadline to nominate people and organizations for FOI Oklahoma's annual awards honoring efforts to promote the free flow of information to the public.

FOI Oklahoma also presents the Black Hole Award to recognize those who thwart the public's right to know.

The Ben Blackstock Award is presented to a non-governmental person or organization that has shown a commitment to freedom of information.

The Sunshine Award goes to a public official or governmental body that has demonstrated a commitment to open meetings and open records.

Nominations for all three awards may be made via e-mail to foiawards@gmail.com or via mail to FOI Awards, PO Box 5315, Edmond, OK 73083-5315.

Nominations must include a letter of no more than 250 words justifying why the person or organization is deserving of the award.

This is the third year for the awards. Last year’s winner of the Blackstock Award was Mark Thomas, executive vice president of the Oklahoma Press Association. The Sunshine Award was presented to Carolyn Kusler, the Wagoner County clerk.

The Black Hole Award went to the Oklahoma A&M Board of Regents and the Oklahoma State University administration.

This year’s awards will be presented March 13 during FOI Oklahoma's third annual Sunshine Week conference.

FOI Oklahoma, founded in 1990, is a statewide organization aimed at educating the public on the First Amendment and openness in government.

The organization is a national leader in training educators to teach the First Amendment in Oklahoma classrooms. It sponsors an annual First Amendment Congress for students and professionals.

Democratic candidates for governor, attorney general to participate in Sunshine Conference

Gubernatorial candidate Drew Edmondson and Jim Priest, a candidate for attorney general, will share their views on open government at FOI Oklahoma Inc.'s third annual Sunshine Week conference.

Oklahoma Sunshine ’10: Privacy, Politicians & the Public’s Need to Know will be held March 13 at The Oklahoman, 9000 N. Broadway, Oklahoma City.

The conference's afternoon session will feature a question-and-answer session with candidates for governor and attorney general. All the announced candidates have been invited to participate.

Each candidate will be afforded three minutes to initially state his or her position on open government and any proposals regarding government transparency and the state’s open meeting and records laws.

The latest candidates to accept the invitation are Democrats: Edmondson, the state attorney general, and Priest, an Oklahoma City attorney and lay minister.

Republican gubernatorial candidates Sen. Randy Brogdon and Robert Hubbard also have agreed to participate.

The conference will celebrate FOI Oklahoma Inc.'s 20th anniversary and preview what's ahead for open government in the state.

The morning sessions will focus on the issue of individual privacy versus the public’s need to know. State legislators are considering exempting government employees' dates of birth from the state Open Records Act.

SB 1753, filed by Sen. Debbe Leftwich, D-Oklahoma City, comes on the heels of a written opinion by Edmondson that those birth dates are presumed open and may be withheld only if officials can demonstrate on a case-by-case basis that disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy that outweighs the public interest. (2009 OK AG 33)

During the conference luncheon, the recipients of FOI Oklahoma's three annual FOI awards will be announced.


Joey Senat, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
OSU School of Journalism

What part of ‘Open’ don’t they understand?

Helen Barrett of the Alva Review-Courier asked that question on the newspaper's opinion page last week.

She wondered what an airport commission member meant when he motioned to table the solution to a longtime, long-discussed problem "until we have time to talk this over."

Barrett said the comment "seems to suggest a decision will be reached improperly – if not illegally – in privately held discussions somewhere out of the eye of the public."

Barrett, a member of FOI Oklahoma's board of directors, posted a video of the commissioner making the remark. So decide for yourself.

Either way, Barrett's column provided a useful reminder to all public bodies in Oklahoma:

Public meetings are where public business is supposed to be discussed. Things aren’t supposed to be tabled until the board members can 'discuss' it in private – away from the public, away from reporters or video cameras.

Joey Senat, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
OSU School of Journalism

GOP gubernatorial candidates to participate in Sunshine Conference

Republican gubernatorial candidates Sen. Randy Brogdon and Robert Hubbard have agreed to discuss their views on government transparency at FOI Oklahoma Inc.'s third annual Sunshine Week conference.

Oklahoma Sunshine ’10: Privacy, Politicians & the Public’s Need to Know will be held March 13 at The Oklahoman, 9000 N. Broadway, Oklahoma City.

The conference will celebrate FOI Oklahoma Inc.'s 20th anniversary and preview what's ahead for open government in the state.

Experts will discuss the issue of individual privacy versus the public’s need to know. State legislators are considering exempting government employees' dates of birth from the Open Records Act. SB 1753, filed by Sen. Debbe Leftwich, D-Oklahoma City, comes on the heels of a state attorney general opinion that those birth dates are presumed open and may be withheld only if officials can demonstrate on a case-by-case basis that disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy that outweighs the public interest. (2009 OK AG 33)

The conference's afternoon session will feature a question-and-answer session with candidates for governor and attorney general. All those candidates were invited last Thursday to participate in the session. Each candidate will be afforded three minutes to initially state his or her position on open government and any proposals regarding government transparency and the state’s open meeting and records laws.

Brogdon of Owasso and Hubbard, a Yukon businessman, are the first to accept the invitation.

The recipients of FOI Oklahoma's three annual FOI awards will be announced during the conference luncheon.

Early registration for the conference must be received by March 10.

Non-members: $30 (Includes lunch and one-year membership in FOI Oklahoma Inc.)

College/High School Students: $15 (Includes lunch and one-year membership in FOI Oklahoma Inc.)

FOI Oklahoma Inc. Members: $10

Additional $5 for registrations received after March 10

Make check or money order payable to FOI Oklahoma.

Mail payment to:
Oklahoma Sunshine '10
Oklahoma Library Association
300 Hardy Drive, Edmond, OK 73013
405–525–5100 • Fax: 405–525–5103
kboies@sbcglobal.net

Purchase Orders, and Visa and MasterCard payments can also be accepted.
Please contact the Oklahoma Library Association.

More information will be posted on the FOI Oklahoma Web site in the coming weeks.


Joey Senat, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
OSU School of Journalism

Cherokee Nation officials told not to violate tribe's open meeting law

Cherokee Nation officials didn't criminally violate the tribe's open meeting law when they met secretly to discuss its budget in August, tribal Attorney General Diane Hammons concluded recently.

But she doesn't want them doing it again without posting the proper notice and agenda required by the statute.

The Cherokee Nation Freedom of Information Act, enacted in 2001, requires public bodies to post agendas 10 days in advance of regular meetings and 24 hours head of special meetings.

An investigation by Hammons' office found that no meeting notice or agenda had been posted for the budget meeting between "no less than" 10 Tribal Council members and Principal Chief Chad Smith.

Council members "generally seen as philosophically aligned with the Principal Chief" were invited via e-mail to the meeting, Hammons said in a written opinion Feb. 5.

(The opinion is available through the Cherokee Phoenix Web site.)

The council members constituted a quorum of the council's Executive and Finance Committee, the opinion said.

However, Hammons said the tribe's open meeting law requires that violations must have been "committed both willfully and maliciously."

Therefore, she said in the opinion, the meeting did not constitute a criminal violation because the participants didn't believe they were violating the tribe's Freedom of Information Act.

Not everyone on the Tribal Council agrees with Hammons' conclusion.

“With all respect to the AG, the conduct of the meeting was, in my view, ‘willful’ and the secretive nature of it strikes me as being borne of malice towards the people’s right to know,” said one of the three Tribal Council members who requested the opinion.

Chuck Hoskin Jr. told the Tahlequah Daily Press that he believes Smith is well-aware of the rules and chose to disregard them.

“The AG’s investigation confirms, sadly, that the administration is willing to thumb its nose at the public when it comes to how the tribe spends the people’s money,” Hoskin said.

The newspaper reported that the tribal councilors calling for the investigation were appalled when they learned of the meeting.

“The idea that the administration would summon a majority of our budget-writing committee to hash out the annual budget in a room at the casino with no public notice was outrageous,” Councilor Jodie Fishinghawk told the newspaper.

Sure seems as though the statute leaves Cherokee Nation officials with an easy defense when they're accused of conducting an illegal meeting: Nope, we didn't think we were breaking the law.

(Read Tulsa World coverage of Hammons' opinion.)


Joey Senat, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
OSU School of Journalism

Candidates for Norman City Council, House District 44 sign Open Government Pledge

Two candidates for Norman City Council Ward 4 have signed FOI Oklahoma Inc.'s Open Government Pledge.

By doing so, Carol Dillingham and Austin Dyches each promised, "I and the public bodies that I am elected to govern will comply with not only the letter but also the spirit of Oklahoma's Open Meeting and Open Records laws."

Dillingham, the incumbent, faces Dyches and two other opponents in the March 2 election.

Norman's two mayoral candidates also have made the same commitment.

Isaiah McCaslin, a Democrat seeking the state House District 44 seat in Norman, also has vowed to support open government in Oklahoma. He is the first candidate for a legislative seat in the fall 2010 election to sign the pledge.

Legislative candidates specifically promise to "support legislation to strengthen the letter and the spirit of Oklahoma's Open Meeting and Open Records laws."

Freedom of Information Oklahoma Inc. invites other legislative candidates and those running for statewide and municipal offices to sign the pledge.

Instructions and a list of signers for the 2010 elections can be found on FOI Oklahoma’s Web site.

FOI Oklahoma began the Open Government Pledge in spring 2008 as part of a national effort to spur public commitments to government transparency from candidates for president down to city council contests.

For the 2008 and 2009 elections, 58 candidates for local or statewide offices signed the pledge. Of those, 28 were elected.


Joey Senat, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
OSU School of Journalism

OU student government rescinds, repasses bill because of possible Open Meeting Act violation

The UOSA Undergraduate Student Congress rescinded and then approved again on Tuesday a bill originally approved last week in a possible violation of the state Open Meeting Act, the University of Oklahoma student newspaper reported today.

The Oklahoma Daily had criticized the student legislators for violating the Open Meeting Act. The newspaper had reported that the UOSA Undergraduate Student Congress approved a bill not listed as an item on the group’s agenda in its office.

An attorney told the newspaper that the bill was not "new business" because it could have been reasonably foreseen prior to the time the agenda was posted.

“The fact that ‘Joe College’ thought of it just before the meeting does not mean it’s new business,” said Jim Milton of Doerner Saunders Daniel & Anderson LLP in Tulsa.


Joey Senat, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
OSU School of Journalism

Legislators want Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association subject to state FOI laws

Two bills would give the public access to the records and meetings of the non-profit organization that regulates high school sports and other activities such as music, speech and debate competitions in Oklahoma.

Senate Bill 1729, filed by Sen. Charlie Laster, D-Shawnee, would amend the state Open Records Act to specifically name the Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association as a public body.

That bill is scheduled for a hearing Tuesday before the state Senate Judiciary Committee, of which Laster is a member.

SB 1965, filed by Sen. Harry Coates, R-Seminole, would amend the Open Records and Open Meeting acts to include "any association which coordinates, supervises, and regulates interscholastic activities and contest in which its member schools, including member public schools, pay a fee."

The bill has been referred to the Senate Education Committee for a hearing.

In September, OSSAA's former executive secretary pleaded guilty to embezzling $421,500 from the organization. He admitted to taking the money to pay off loans and gambling debts. He did not go to prison.

Shortly afterward, the new executive secretary, Ed Sheakley, said no one had ever submitted a request for OSSAA's records and he was uncertain how such a request would be handled.

In a posting on this blog, Oologah Lake Leader Publisher John M. Wylie II said the embezzlement case made it "abundantly clear that OSSAA must be classified as a public agency."

"It is funded with public money and should be subject to all the laws that go with that—including annual state audits. Giving OSSAA the discretion to choose what state transparency laws it follows would clearly be a case of letting the fox guard the henhouse," he wrote.

Wylie called upon lawmakers to clarify OSSAA’s status.

"It is the public’s money, not OSSAA’s, and the public has a right to know that it is being spent responsibly," Wylie wrote.


Joey Senat, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
OSU School of Journalism
as a public body.

Senate committee OKs bills to exempt public employee birth dates, film proposals, stop court clerks from charging more than 25 cents per copy

The state Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved a bill exempting government employees' dates of birth from the Open Records Act, The Oklahoman reported today.

However, the bill's title -- a requirement to become law -- was removed after some committee members expressed concerns about some of the legislation's language, the newspaper said.

Senate Bill 1753 next goes to the full Senate for consideration along with two other records-related bills approved by the committee on Tuesday.

SB 1351, filed by Sen. David Myers, R-Ponca City, would keep confidential certain film proposals to the state Film and Music Office.

SB 1318, filed by Sen. Patrick Anderson, R-Enid, would limit court clerks to 25 cent per page for documents requested under the Open Records Act. Anderson is the Judiciary Committee chairman.

SB 1753 was filed by Sen. Debbe Leftwich, D-Oklahoma City.

She told The Oklahoman that the bill wasn't requested by local officials but was based on her reaction to a state attorney general opinion that she had requested on behalf of Oklahoma City officials.

In that opinion, Attorney General Drew Edmondson said the birth dates of public employees are presumed open and may be withheld only if officials can demonstrate on a case-by-case basis that disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy that outweighs the public interest. (2009 OK AG 33)

Given that public employees' Social Security numbers, home addresses and telephone numbers are already exempted, SB 1753 would make it virtually impossible to determine if those employees have committed crimes, evaded paying taxes, filed for bankruptcy or made political contributions.

Background on the bill and the issues surrounding public access to the birth dates of government employees can be found in this earlier posting on this blog.


Joey Senat, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
OSU School of Journalism

SPJ & NFOIC seek nominees for Open Government Hall of Fame

The Society of Professional Journalists and National Freedom of Information Coalition want to "recognize long-term contributions of individuals to open government in their respective states."

They are creating a Heroes of the 50 States: The State Open Government Hall of Fame.

Other groups also want to recognize those who've fought for the public's right to know at the state and local level.

The American Society of News Editors is seeking nominees to identify the top three Local Heroes of 2010 who fought tirelessly last year to make their state or local public institutions more open and accessible.

FOI Oklahoma is seeking nominations for its annual awards competition recognizing individuals and organizations that promote the free flow of information to the public and the government agency that attempted most to thwart the public's right to know.

All the awards are part of the national Sunshine Week celebration March 14 - 19.

SPJ and NFOIC are seeking to recognize people "who may be well known within their respective states and communities, but whose labors have gone unrecognized elsewhere. Heroes whose efforts have kept state and local government records and meetings open and accessible to their fellow citizens."

Specifically, induction into the Hall recognizes “long and steady effort to preserve and protect the free flow of information about state and local government that is vital to the public in a democracy.”

One person will be inducted into the Hall of Fame each spring.

Nominees may come from government, the media, the non-profit sector, the legal profession, or any other area of endeavor that involves citizen access to government records, meetings and procedures. Nominees may be living or dead, active or retired. Judges will consider only accomplishments at the state and local level.

Nominations should include a cover letter identifying the nominee and the person or group making the nomination, and adequate support material to demonstrate the worthiness of the nominee.

The deadline for nominations is Feb. 15. Nomination materials should be sent to:

Charles Davis
Executive Director
NFOIC Headquarters
University of Missouri
101 Reynolds Journalism Institute
Columbia, MO 65211