Dean Gleason and Payne Award winners left to right David Shaw, Ancil Payne, Bill Boyarsky, Erin Bender, Corey Lewis, Patty Fuller and Geoff White, after the ceremony.

Two student journalists, the entire news staff of the Los Angeles Times and a small community newspaper were honored at the first Annual Payne Awards for Ethics in Journalism May 10.

In conjunction with the annual Ruhl Symposium, the School of Journalism and Communication presented its first—and possibly the nation’s only—award recognizing ethical choices made by journalists and news organizations.

Also a one-time award was presented to Ancil Payne for promoting ethical practices and integrity in journalism through this national award. More than a year ago, Payne decided that something needed to be done about the state of ethics in journalism. He endowed the awards through the SOJC. Payne is retired chief executive officer of KING-TV, Seattle, Wash., and KGW-TV, Portland.

The first award for an individual’s ethical choice went to all of the individual members of the Los Angeles Times news staff.

After a special issue of the paper’s Sunday magazine covering the Staples Center had gone to press, staff members of the Los Angeles Times learned that the newspaper’s corporate owners, Times-Mirror, had entered into an agreement with the Staples Center to share the advertising profits of the special issue.

In presenting the award, SOJC Dean Tim Gleason noted, “Facing real jeopardy to their jobs and careers, staff members protested the flagrant conflict of interest and petitioned the paper’s owners to respect the editorial autonomy and integrity of the LA Times.”

When selecting a news organization for the Payne ethics award, the judges were especially impressed with the actions of a small community newspaper facing a local story, a questionable source, and overwhelming national media attention. In its coverage of the murder of three women sightseers near Yosemite National Park, the (Sonora, Calif.) Union Democrat refused to print the names of suspects who—based on anonymous sources—were repeatedly named by nearly every major news organization in the nation.

The judges found that despite a legitimate concern that they were being beaten on their local story by national media, the Union Democrat held firm to their principles day after day for months. When a different suspect later confessed, the national media were proved wrong, and the credibility and integrity of the Union Democrat was reaffirmed.

Corey Lewis, managing editor and Erin Bender, editor-in-chief of the Bellingham, Wash. Western Front, accept the award for ethics in student journalism.

The Union Democrat recently was purchased by the Western Communications newspaper chain, which has a written ethics policy stating that the paper will reject any story based on anonymous sources.

In the student journalist category, the judges chose Erin Bender, editor-in-chief, and Corey Lewis, managing editor of The Western Front from Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash., to receive an award.

When The Western Front reported on the break in and vandalism of a research lab by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), the paper used still photos taken from a videotape that the ALF took and distributed to media.

After the article ran, WWU police subpoenaed the tape as evidence in its investigation of the vandalism and the ALF. Becker and Lewis refused to turn over the tape, citing the case of State v. Rinaldo (Wash. 1984) and journalism ethics.

“We cannot hand over the tape because we need to protect ourselves as professional journalists and protect our credibility as a newspaper,” Becker said.

Ultimately the students did turn over the tape after losing their case in Washington Superior Court. However, as SOJC Dean Tim Gleason noted, “Their determined fight stands as a proud example of student journalists who took seriously their obligation to maintain autonomy and independence from law enforcement.”

The judges for this year’s Payne Awards were Tim Gleason, dean of the SOJC; Joann Byrd, editorial page editor of the Seattle Post Intelligencer; Dr. Everette Dennis, director for Center for Communications at Fordham University; Larry Grossman, former president of NBC News and PBS; Patsy Smullin, president of California Oregon Broadcasting, Inc.; Mark Trahant, columnist for The Seattle Times; Jim Upshaw, professor from SOJC; and Mark Zusman, editor of Willamette Week.

Nominations for the Payne Awards will be accepted annually by the School of Journalism and Communication.