HSPA seeks nominations for Distinguished Service, O’Bannon Sunshine awards

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The Hoosier State Press Association invites newspaper professionals to submit nominations for the Frank O’Bannon Sunshine Award and Distinguished Service Award.

The honors will be presented during the HSPA & Foundation Annual Conference Sept. 17-18 in Indianapolis.

Award nominations needed

Send nominations for the Sunshine Award and Distinguished Service award to Steve Key, HSPA executive director and general counsel, at skey@hspa.com.

The deadline for submitting nominations is July 30.

Send the nominee’s name and contact information along with a letter explaining why the nominee should receive a Sunshine or Distinguished Service award, to Steve Key, HSPA executive director and general counsel, at skey@hspa.com.

Include any supporting documentation or evidence supporting the nomination.

Frank O’Bannon Sunshine Award

The O’Bannon award is presented to an individual, group or organization that has demonstrated outstanding efforts to protect and enhance the concepts of open government in Indiana.

While not limited to public officials, HSPA hopes to recognize worthy elected officials or public employees through this award.

The award is named after the late Indiana governor who was an advocate of open records and meetings.

Nominees may be:

• Citizens who work to ensure the Open Door Law or Access to Public Records Act are followed in their community.

• Local or state officials who remained true to the philosophy of openness.

Nomination guidelines:

• An individual or neighborhood organization, city or town council, or state agency may be nominated.

• The actions warranting recognition may have occurred in 2015, or the nomination may recognize years of work that exemplify open government and public participation in the process.

Distinguished Service Award

The HSPA board of directors presents its Distinguished Service Award to an individual who has contributed in one or more of the following ways:

• Made a significant impact on the newspaper industry in Indiana through service to HSPA in one or more of the following areas: committee work, board membership, lobbying efforts or legal action.

• Performed outstanding service to the newspaper industry in general.

• Demonstrated service in the local community that reflected positively on its newspaper.

Nominees must be:

• A present or former employee of an HSPA-member newspaper or affiliated with journalism through a university, college or newspaper association.

• An exemplary professional who brings credit to the newspaper industry. Length of service is a major qualifying criterion but not exclusively so.

Nomination guidelines:

• Nominations may come from HSPA-member newspaper publishers, editors or other employees.