RiverheadLOCAL was one of eight news organizations statewide recognized with the Open Government Champion Award by the New York Coalition for Open Government.
RiverheadLOCAL was honored for its “great open government reporting, including a ‘transparency to-do list for an incoming town supervisor.”
The other Open Government Champion awardees were Altamont Enterprise, Post Journal/Dunkirk Observer, Palladium TImes, Westmore News, Mountain Eagle News, Lockport Union Sun & Journal, and Adirondack Daily Enterprise.
“As we celebrate Independence Day, we want to take the opportunity to recognize media organizations as a vital pillar of our democracy,” the New York Coalition for Open Government representative Axel Ebermann said in a statement at the outset of Thursday’s ceremony. “No open society can flourish without an informed citizenry, and the press is our natural ally in the quest to inform the public and defend citizens’ rights to access information from public institutions.”
“We recognize eight organizations for their outstanding reporting on issues concerning government transparency in New York State,” he said.
In addition two student journalists were recognized: Adelaide Barlow, a graduating senior at Corning-Painted Post High School, for her fierce advocacy of First Amendment rights for student journalists, and Holden Velasco, editor-in-chief of The Knight News at Queens College for five semesters, who is credited with rescuing the college paper from the brink of extinction (it had ceased publication) and building a talented newsroom.
The New York Coalition for Open Government is a nonprofit, all-volunteer, nonpartisan organization that advocates for open, transparent government and defends citizens’ right to access information from public institutions at the city, county and state levels. Its membership is comprised of journalists, attorneys, educators, news media organizations, activists and other concerned citizens who value open government and freedom of information.
The Open Government Champion Awards were given for the first time this year. The coalition plans to give the awards out annually, Ebermann said.
“We were surprised and delighted when we were informed last week that we’d be receiving this recognition,” RiverheadLOCAL Editor and Publisher Denise Civiletti said. “It means a lot to us, because we know the value of open government and we work very hard for the people’s right to know what’s going on in local government and in the school district. The ‘watchdog’ role is not an easy one, and it is often an unpleasant uphill battle, but we recognize that it’s crucial, and so we persist,” she said.
“One of my favorite quotes about news reporting is from British newspaper publisher Alfred Harmsworth, Lord Northcliffe: ‘News is what somebody, somewhere wants to suppress. All the rest is advertising.’
“These words are even more true today, a century after Harmsworth died, than they were when he spoke them,” Civiletti said.
“We are grateful that RiverheadLOCAL’s loyal readers, subscribers and advertisers understand the value of news — especially local news — and we appreciate their continued support.
“Thank you to the New York Coalition for Open Government for this recognition.”
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