EXCELLENCE IN REPORTING AWARDS

Please read these pages carefully as the procedures and due date have been revised for this year.  For additional information contact basommer@ucdavis.edu.   Click here for Printer Friendly version.

The California Grand Jurors' Association (CGJA) annually presents two Excellence in Reporting Awards to recognize quality in reports issued by grand juries throughout the state.  One is the Robert Geiss award for the best grand jury report, and the other is the News Media award for best news media reporting. The first award honors the memory of Bob Geiss to acknowledge his many contributions to CGJA, especially as creator and lead trainer for the report writing portion of the annual training seminars. It recognizes an outstanding grand jury report, with regard to the quality of the investigation, the difficulties overcome, its impact on the citizenry, and the clarity of the reporting.

The News Media award is presented to print, electronic, or public media. It is judged on the contribution made by news media toward increasing public awareness of the grand jury system, or of a particular grand jury investigation. Media award nominations may be based on the coverage of a specific grand jury report or on the overall coverage given to a grand jury throughout the year.

Nominations may be made only by a CGJA Chapter or Association for its county. Where there is no Chapter or Association, nominations may be made by a CGJA member who resides in the county.  A county may nominate only one grand jury report and one news media coverage topic per year. A single grand jury report may be the subject of both awards.

A listing of past recipients will be posted on this website soon!  Watch for it!

INSTRUCTIONS FOR NOMINATORS

All nominations must be submitted online by May 15, 2012 via the Nomination form.

The nominated reports must have been published within the preceding 5 years (from 2007-08 on) with sufficient time for responses or effects to be known.

Nominations are limited to one report per County for each award.

The criteria for the Robert Geiss award include

• Report quality -- legible, documented, succinct, complete, and understandable
• Citizen Impact: Importance or severity of problem
• Duration/persistence of the problem
• Difficulty of the investigation - many agencies, bureaucratic interference (e.g., denials, subpoenas), etc.
• Substantiated findings and recommendations within the report
• Exposure of the report by the media, or response from the public
• Documented success of the investigation

The criteria for News Media award include

• Increased familiarity with and understanding of the grand jury system
• Increased public awareness of a specific grand jury investigation
• Improved public understanding of the issue investigated
• Community awareness of the outcome of a grand jury investigation

What you will need in order to submit a nomination online:

A.  Whether the nomination is for the Robert Geiss award (best grand jury report) or the New Media award (best news media reporting), or both.

B.  County

C.  Date and title of the specific report being nominated for the Robert Geiss award (best grand jury report)

D.  Dates and titles of media report(s) nominated for the New Media award (best news media reporting

E.  Chapter, Association, or CGJA member (if no CGJA Chapter or Association) submitting the nomination

F.   Contact name (if different from above)

G.  Contact telephone number

H.  Contact e-mail address

I.    Either online links (URLS) or electronic copies of supporting documentation for the following:

1.   Nominated grand jury report (as published) and/or media outlet (News Media award)

2.   Official response(s) to the report by county agencies or individuals, as required by the investigation.

3.   Media coverage of the report

J.   Rationale: A brief explanation of why this nominee should receive the award (this can be copied and pasted from a Word document).

If you have questions, please contact Barbara Sommer, EIR Committee Chair at basommer@ucdavis.edu . The Chair will acknowledge receipt of the nomination submission within a few days.

See Past Awards.