FOI Oklahoma announces 2024-2025 award winners, Black Hole recipient during Sunshine Week

An Oklahoma City television station, two longtime hall-of-fame journalists, the retired Edmond school superintendent and the school board, and the Wagoner County clerk are among the honorees of Freedom of Information (FOI) Oklahoma’s 2024-25 awards.

For its dubious “award,” FOI Oklahoma announces that Oklahoma police departments, specifically in Tulsa and Ponca City, are recipients of this year’s Black Hole recognition for their lack of transparency.

“We like to announce our awards during national Sunshine Week to draw attention to the importance of public record access and transparency in government during this week when states across the nation are focused on these important issues,” said Kurt Gwartney, FOI Oklahoma’s executive director. “This year’s honorees epitomize the need for vigilance in defending access to government records and meetings.”

The FOI Oklahoma awards will be officially presented during the annual First Amendment Congress Oct. 8 at the First Amendment Center on the University of Central Oklahoma campus in Edmond, Okla.

Freedom of Information OklahomaMarch 20, 2025Comment

First Amendment Congress Set for Oct. 2 at UCO

Join Freedom of Information of Oklahoma as we increase understanding and importance of the First Amendment. The annual event is Oct. 2 from 10 a.m.–3:30 p.m. at the Communications Building on the University of Central Oklahoma campus in Edmond, Okla.

Jonathan Turley, author of The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage, is the keynote speaker.

Turley is a nationally known writer and speaker on First Amendment issues and professor at George Washington University Law School. He will speak on the need for a robust defense of the First Amendment against censorship.

FOI Oklahoma will also present is 2023-24 awards to close out the event.

Freedom of Information OklahomaSeptember 5, 2024

Sunshine Week: FOI Oklahoma announces 2023-24 award winners

Oklahoma Attorney General Genter Drummond, the publisher of the McCurtain County Gazette-News, an Oklahoma attorney who created a freedom of information website and a longtime journalist have been named as the recipients of the 2023-24 Freedom of Information Oklahoma’s awards.

FOI Oklahoma also is awarding a Special Commendation to the Oklahoma Supreme Court and Chief Justice M. John Kane IV.

The awards this year are being announced during Sunshine Week, a national collaboration of civic, government, journalism and private organizations and individuals that stresses the importance of open government and open records. FOI Oklahoma joins in supporting this noble cause.

All of those being honored exemplify the goal of open and transparent government in Oklahoma. They will be officially recognized this fall at the First Amendment Congress, planned in October at the University of Central Oklahoma.

“Oklahomans have the right to know how their government operates and spends their tax dollars,” said Brianna Bailey, FOI Oklahoma president. “The FOI Oklahoma Awards recognize those who have shown a commitment to transparency.”

As for those who don’t, FOI Oklahoma also announces its Black Hole Award, given this year to Ryan Walters, Oklahoma state superintendent of public instruction. The award recognizes the individual, agency or organization that has most thwarted the free flow of information.

FOI and Opala AwardsFreedom of Information OklahomaMarch 10, 2024Awards, Black Hole