Burlington Free Press reporter wins national award from SPJ

From Burlington Free Press:  Mike Donoghue, a reporter with the Burlington Free Press, has won a Sunshine Award from the Society of Professional Journalists.

“The Society’s Sunshine Award recognizes those making important contributions in the area of open government,” a news release said. “This award was the most competitive of our national honor awards.”

The awards are in an open circulation category.

Donoghue’s award was for persistent coverage of a state police commander who was accused and then found guilty of defrauding taxpayers out of about $213,000 by filing false time sheets for several years. The commander was sentenced to two years in prison. Donoghue relied on freedom of information requests to provide the information to the public.

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