From AP, Pennsylvania Bureau

AP's Scolforo wins Charles Rowe Award for state FOI survey

AP reporter Mark Scolforo in Harrisburg has won the prestigious Charles Rowe award from APME for his work on the statewide FOI survey and stories this spring. The award recognizes distinguished reporting in the state AP bureaus. It honors Charles Rowe, an influential figure in newspapering until his retirement as co-publisher and editor of The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va.

The project may have been the largest FOI audit ever undertaken. Fifty Pennsylvania newspapers and one TV station collected results from 278 auditors. At least 26 newspapers wrote their own sidebars to AP's stories, and nearly as many wrote editorials.

The auditors traveled more than 15,000 miles to test access to records in 692 offices in 359 towns in 67 counties.

The results appeared in May in the five-day series, "Your Right to Know: Accessing Public Records," which showed how government offices across the state are throwing up obstacles to the most basic public records -- and how the public can overcome those hurdles. The stories were printed in at least 52 newspapers across the state, including front-page play in 37 of them.

The project was a followup to a three-part introductory Right-to-Know series that Scolforo wrote in March.

Thanks to all of you who participated for lending your support and making your staff available for this important undertaking. A special thanks to Tim Williams and Teri Henning at the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, and to Charles Davis at the University of Missouri for their contributions. The FOI project is an example of the AP cooperative at its best.