Awards

Each spring, the chapter sponsors its annual Arizona Freedom of Information Awards, honoring excellence in journalism and in open government in Arizona during the previous calendar year. The following awards are presented to journalists and to open-government advocates annually:

  • The Phil Alvidrez Award for Excellence in Journalism recognizes the career of an Arizona journalist whose body of work has served to inspire fellow journalists, including a notable commitment to the cause of freedom of information. The award is named for Phil Alvidrez, who retired as news director at Phoenix’s KTVK-TV (Channel 3) after 20 years in that position. Alvidrez was a tireless campaigner for the free flow of government information, often committing his station’s financial resources to fight numerous court battles to open closed documents and meetings.
  • The First Amendment Awards recognize efforts that substantially relied on public records and open meetings to produce top quality journalism.
  • The Sunshine Awards recognize efforts by either journalists or non-journalists for conspicuous efforts in the continuing cause for more open and accountable government, especially through public records and open meetings.
  • The Lloyd Clark “How It Made Print” Award is named for a 1958 founder of the Valley of the Sun chapter whose endowment funds this award. It recognizes the exemplary reporting efforts of an Arizona journalist in producing a compelling, important story–in other words, the significant amount of “shoe leather” expended in pursuit of the story through numerous interviews and/or voluminous research.
  • The Order of the Silver Key honors journalists who have been in the profession for at least 25 years, a significant majority of which were in Arizona, who have conspicuously contributed to the journalism profession and have inspired fellow journalists.
  • The President’s Award, honoring someone who by their local efforts has conspicuously contributed to the mission of the Valley of the Sun SPJ chapter and SPJ as a whole to serve, improve and protect journalists and journalism. This award is given at the discretion of the Board.
The Valley of the Sun Chapter of SPJ does not present first-, second- or third-place awards. Instead, the awards honor great journalism and great journalists — and non-journalists — whose efforts uphold the right of freedom of information. The right, exercised through full access to government through public records and open meetings, is indispensable. Without it, citizens who are entrusted to monitor government activity to keep it from interfering with our liberties would be powerless to do so.

Previous Honorees (dates reflect the year the award was presented, for efforts made in the previous year):

First Amendment Award
Mark Flatten, Emily Gersema & J. Craig Anderson, East Valley Tribune, 2006
Amanda Crawford, Ryan Konic & Matt Dempsey, Arizona Republic, 2006
Erica Meltzer, Arizona Daily Star, 2006
Abbie Boudreau, KNXV-TV, Channel 15, 2006
Robert Anglen, Arizona Republic, 2007
Ryan Gabrielson, East Valley Tribune, 2007
Erica Heartquist, KVOA-TV, Channel 4, Tucson, 2007
Carol Ann Alaimo, Arizona Daily Star, 2007
Mark Flatten & Jason Massad, East Valley Tribune, 2008
Mike Sakal, East Valley Tribune, 2008
Paul Giblin and Ryan Gabrielson, East Valley Tribune, 2009
Dennis Wagner, Arizona Republic, 2010
Mark Flatten, Goldwater Institute, 2010
Craig Harris, Arizona Republic, 2011
Andrea Kelly, Arizona Daily Star, 2011
Alyssa Newcomb, Cronkite News Service, 2011
Yvonne Gonzalez, Cronkite News Service, 2011

Matthew Casey, The Tombstone Epitaph, 2012
Hillary Davis, Arizona Daily Sun, 2012
Joe Ferguson, Arizona Daily Sun, 2012
Cyndy Cole, Arizona Daily Sun, 2012
Elvina Nawaguna-Clemente, Cronkite News Service, 2012
Lauren Gambino, Tia Castaneda and Heather Billings, Cronkite News Service, 2012
Staff, The Arizona Republic, 2012

Sunshine Award
Mark Flatten, East Valley Tribune, 2006
Michael Chihak, Tucson Citizen, 2006
Melissa Blasius, KPNX-TV, Channel 12, 2007
Julie Conolly, Peoria Independent, 2007
Josh Brodesky, Arizona Daily Star, 2008
Laurie Roberts, Arizona Republic, 2008
John Dickerson, Phoenix New Times, 2009
Sarah Fenske, Phoenix New Times, 2010
Students Vaughn Hillyard and Sophia Curan, educator Sheri Siwek, and David Bodney and Aaron Lockwood of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, 2010
Rep. Steve Montenegro, R-Dist. 12, 2011
Megan Neighbor, Arizona Daily Star, 2011

Todd Feltus and Greg Collins, Kercsmar & Feltus PLLC, and Thomas Fitton, president, Judicial Watch, 2012
Teri Hayt, Arizona Daily Star, 2012

Phil Alvidrez Award for Excellence in Journalism
Phil Alvidrez, Channel 3, 2004
Bob Early, Arizona Highways magazine, 2005
Paul Schatt, Arizona Republic (posthumously), 2006
Bob Scott, KTAR, 2006
Lou Ruggiero, 2007
Gary Avey (posthumously), 2007
Hal DeKeyser, editor/publisher, InBuckeye.com, 2008
Richard de Uriarte, former columnist and editorialist, Arizona Republic, 2009
Kent Dana, formerly of Channel 12 (KPNX) and Channel 5 (KPHO), 2010
Jon Kamman, Arizona Republic/Arizona Daily Star, 2011

Tom Arviso Jr., The Navajo Times, 2012

Order of the Silver Key Award
Jana Bommersbach, freelance columnist, 2006
Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services, 2006
Donovan Kramer Sr., Casa Grande Newspapers, 2006
Mary Jo Pitzl, Arizona Republic, 2007
Michael Grant, KAET-TV, Channel 8, 2007
Paul Rubin, Phoenix New Times, 2007
Charles Kelly, Arizona Republic, 2007
Edythe Jensen, Arizona Republic, 2008
Doug Ramsey, NPR & KJZZ, 2008
Phil Riske, Arizona Capitol Times, 2008
Debbie Kornmiller, reader advocate, Arizona Daily Star, 2009
Terry Greene Sterling, freelance writer, 2009
Betty Beard, Arizona Republic, 2010
Dennis Lambert, KJZZ/NPR, 2010
Dave Munsey, Channel 10 (KSAZ), 2010
Ted Simons, host of Horizon, KAET-Channel 8, 2011
Laurie Roberts, Arizona Republic, 2011
Terry Ward, KJZZ 95.5 FM, 2011

Al Macias, KJZZ, 2012
Ken Western, The Arizona Republic, 2012
Bill Heywood, Valley radio icon, 2012 (posthumous)

Lloyd Clark How it Made Print Award
Mark Flatten, East Valley Tribune, 2007
Ryan Gabrielson, East Valley Tribune, 2008
Marley Shebala, Navajo Times, 2009
Russ Wiles, Arizona Republic, 2010
No Award Given, 2011

No Award Given, 2012