CT Foundation for Open Government to Honor Judy Woodruff of PBS NewsHour with Freedom of Information Award

The Connecticut Foundation for Open Government will be honoring veteran journalist Judy Woodruff, the highly respected managing editor and anchor of PBS NewsHour, with the organization’s Walter Cronkite Award in recognition of her extraordinary contributions to government transparency and an informed citizenry.

At an April 7 ceremony to be held at the Mark Twain House and Museum, Woodruff will become the seventh person to receive the prestigious award.

The Walter Cronkite Award is named in honor of its first recipient, and other past awardees include journalist Bob Woodward, First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams, and the late Jim Lehrer, who had also occupied the NewsHour anchor chair.

The Connecticut Foundation for Open Government (CFOG) is a tax-exempt, nonprofit corporation founded in 1991 by citizens of Connecticut interested in promoting open government and the public’s right-to-know. Its programs are carried out by a volunteer Board of Directors drawn from the media, academe, the law, business and government.

Judy Woodruff has covered politics and other news for five decades at NBC, CNN and PBS.  She came to national prominence first in her coverage for NBC of then-Presidential candidate Jimmy Carter in 1980, and then following the election became NBC’s White House correspondent.  At PBS from 1983 to 1993, she was the chief Washington correspondent for the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. Her reporting career began in Atlanta, Georgia, where she covered state and local government.

Woodruff is a founding co-chair of the International Women's Media Foundation, an organization dedicated to promoting and encouraging women in journalism and communication industries worldwide. She serves on the boards of trustee of the Freedom Forum, The Duke Endowment and the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and is a director of Public Radio International and the National Association to End Homelessness.

In Connecticut, CFOG develops and sponsors education programs, including a program for high school students focused on the importance of the First Amendment, featuring a local attorney and journalist sharing their expertise and experiences on Freedom of Speech and Open Government rights, and an annual CFOG Essay Contest for high school students on Right to Know and First Amendment issues.  In addition, CFOG sponsors periodic public policy symposia, and an annual program “The Stories Behind the Biggest Stories” featuring a panel of State Capitol reporters explaining what was happening behind-the-scenes of the year’s major news stories.

CFOG recently announced that Mitchell W. Pearlman, the founding Executive Director of Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Commission and a name synonymous with open government and press freedom in the state, was honored by the organization’s board of directors with the establishment of an annual award in his name.

The Mitchell W. Pearlman Freedom of Information Award will be given to government officials, members of the press and other residents of Connecticut who make significant efforts to foster transparency in government, disclose information vital to the public and otherwise ensure that citizens can see their government at work and respond in kind.

Pearlman, who served as the CT FOIC’s first executive director for 30 years, has been recognized as an international expert on government transparency, information policy, electronic information issues, privacy and data protection, freedom of the press and administrative law.

The award is to be bestowed annually beginning in Fall 2022 to one or more recipients – local or state officials, journalists, private citizens or others – based on a selection process conducted by a CFOG committee. Nominations will be sought and accepted later this spring.   

More information on the event honoring Judy Woodruff is available at https://ctfog.org/cronkite-awards/