The FOI Foundation of Texas is pleased to announce 2016 guidelines for the Nancy Monson Spirit of FOI Award contest. The contest is open to newspaper, broadcast and online media. The Spirit of FOI Award recognizes outstanding work in promoting open government and the public’s right to know.

The deadline for electronic submission of entries is Friday, May 6. Nominations must be for work published or broadcast in calendar year 2015. A nomination can be a single news story or series; an editorial or series of editorials; columns; editorial cartoons; or a community FOI project. There is a limit of one entry per news organization. Entries will be judged in the following size classifications, and up to two entries will be recognized in each class (a winner and an honorable mention, if warranted).

A – News organizations located in markets with a population of 500,000 or less.
AA – News organizations located in markets with a population of 500,000 or more.

All entries must be submitted electronically and include the following:
  • a letter, headed with the name of the person or organization nominated and the classification entered, explaining the effort being cited,
  • PDFs of pages or online links containing the coverage being entered,
  • additional support documents or letters as deemed necessary.

Entries should be emailed to [email protected] with the subject line FOI AWARD. Entries must be received by midnight Friday, May 6, 2016.

Winners will be presented at the FOI Foundation of Texas annual state conference on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016, at the AT&T Professional Education and Conference Center at the University of Texas in Austin. For further contest questions, email [email protected].