22-03-2025
SPJ gives dishonorable Black Hole Award to Utah Legislature for ‘egregious violations'
SALT LAKE CITY () — The Society of Professional Journalists has chosen the Utah State Legislature as the recipient of the dishonorable 2025 Black Hole Award, an award meant to bring attention to 'the most egregious violations of the public's right to know.'
SPJ is one of the largest and longest-standing journalism organizations in the country, having been founded more than 100 years ago. The Black Hole Award, however, is just shy of 15 years old — and the Utah Legislature has already been a recipient twice.
'Utah cannot be 'the best run state' and the most secretive state at the same time; these goals are inherently exclusive of one another,' said Emma Penrod, president of the SPJ Utah Headliners Chapter.
This dishonorable award comes after the legislature passed several laws pertaining to public records over the past several years.
SPJ's Freedom of Information (FOI) Committee said the legislature 'earned this year's award for repeatedly undermining transparency' by amending public records law to 'block the release of public records – even after court orders mandated their disclosure.'
'After the State Records Committee ruled in favor of releasing several records that government agencies and elected officials sought to withhold, the Legislature turned around and made changes to the law to keep those records secret,' the SPJ press release reads.
One sponsor of a recent public records bill, Sen. Mike McKell (R – Spanish Fork), calls the SPJ claims 'inaccurate' and lacking in merit, adding that he did not hear from the organization until after his bill was passed.
SPJ points to multiple bills in particular over the past three years, including one passed this session that disbanded the State Records Committee, an independent board that managed record request appeals. The committee consisted of news representatives, governor-appointed citizens, and an archive representative.
With the passing of S.B. 277 earlier this month, a governor-appointed director will now make the final call on whether the public has a right to see particular government records.
'Replacing that committee with a governor's appointee can only reduce accountability and undermine public confidence in government,' said Howard Goldberg, SPJ Freedom of Information committee member.
McKell, the bill's sponsor, told ABC4 this law was 'modeled after successful approaches in other states' and 'is expected to be far more effective.' He said in 2023, the average time it took the committee to receive an appeal and issue a decision was 156 days.
'It is disappointing that the Society of Professional Journalists fails to recognize the need to address an inefficient and flawed system. Their claims are inaccurate and lack merit. Moreover, it is unfortunate that we are only hearing from SPJ now, after the fact,' McKell said.
He continued to say lawmakers worked with the Utah Media Coalition to refine the bill and the organization did not oppose it. He said the local coalition expressed 'support for the legislative efforts to create a structure that is both efficient and fair.'
ABC4 reached out to legislative leaders and Gov. Cox for comment and did not receive additional statements at the time of publication.
SPJ pointed to another instance in 2022 when the legislature voted to block Garrity Statements — comments from public employees during an investigation — from the public eye.
The organization said this came after the State Records Committee released Garrity Statements regarding officer-involved shootings upon the request of the Salt Lake Tribune.
Last year, the legislature passed a law saying public officials' digital work calendars are not public records and therefore cannot be requested and publicized.
SPJ said lawmakers passed the law shortly after courts supported the release of Attorney General Sean Reyes' calendar as journalists investigated his connection to Tim allard, the controversial CEO of Operation Underground Railroad.
The recent national award was given after the local SPJ chapter in Utah gave its state-wide Black Hole Award to the legislature these past two years. However, it's not the legislature's first national Black Hole Award as Utah lawmakers were the first recipient in 2011.
The 2011 Black Hole Award was given to the state legislature after 'extreme changes made to its public records law' under Gov. Gary Herbert.
'The legislature has clearly violated the public's right to know, and as a two-time recipient of this 'award,' it serves as a reminder to journalists to keep holding those in government accountable,' said Jodi Rave Spotted Bear, chair of the national SPJ FOI Committee.
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