Tom Loftus named 2008 Madison Award Recipient
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LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 4, 2008) – Tom Loftus, a reporter who for more than 30
years has exposed government waste and insider dealing in the state capital, has been named the
recipient of the 2008 James Madison Award for Service to the First Amendment.
Loftus, who is the Frankfort bureau chief for the Louisville Courier-Journal, will be honored for his tireless effort as a watchdog for the citizens of Kentucky by the Scripps Howard First Amendment Center. The center, housed in the School of Journalism and Telecommunications at the University of Kentucky, created the award in 2006.
“The judges were unanimous in choosing Tom because of his long record of exposing abuses and following the money trail all over the state as people have sought to win influence and government contracts. He has been for three decades the best friend of the taxpayers of Kentucky,” said Mike Farrell, director of the center.
The award will be presented at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16, at the center’s annual First Amendment Celebration. After the ceremony, First Amendment advocate Jane Kirtley will deliver the keynote address. The event will be held at UK’s William T. Young auditorium.
Loftus, a journalism graduate of Ohio State University, began his career at The Kentucky Post in 1976. He became the newspaper’s Frankfort bureau chief in 1980 and joined the Courier-Journal in 1984. For the past 21 years, he has been the Louisville newspaper’s state capital bureau chief.
Reporting by Loftus in the early 1990s on contributions to gubernatorial campaigns from business people who depended on state government contracts prompted the General Assembly to pass a law, since repealed, that regulated the flow such contributions. During the 2007 gubernatorial campaign, Loftus again documented the way some business people were able to launder contributions to campaigns through the names of their employees, and a major state highway contractor paid a $250,000 fine as a result of the reporting. Loftus' reports documenting wasteful travel expenses and questionable contracting by the Kentucky Lottery in the early 1990s led to a state audit being conducted. That audit resulted in the resignations of the lottery board’s officers and directors.
Perhaps his most significant story for taxpayers was a story that revealed Kentucky taxpayers were losing millions of dollars because of the lack of competition for state blacktopping contracts. The report, which he investigated and wrote with his colleague John Voskuhl, included a map showing the various blacktop contractors and the regions where they dominated the road work. Loftus updated that report this summer in a story that showed that the monopolies persist at a cost of millions of dollars per year to taxpayers.
“This is journalism in its highest form,” said Beth Barnes, director of UK’s School of Journalism and Telecommunications. “Using open records requests and his own reporting skills, Tom Loftus has shown Kentuckians how their money was being wasted and who was paying for influence and government contracts. Every Kentuckian should salute Tom for his service to the state, to taxpayers and to the First Amendment."
“The judges felt Tom was a worthy recipient of this award because of his work demanding a public accounting of what goes on out of the spotlight. His reporting has invigorated a free press in this state,” said Farrell, who worked with Loftus at the beginning of their careers.
The Madison Award for Service to the First Amendment was created by the Scripps Howard First Amendment Center committee in 2006. Loftus will become the third recipient. Judy Clabes, who as editor of The Kentucky Post was a tireless advocate for freedom of the press and led the effort to found the center and worked to fund it, was the first recipient. Jon Fleischaker, a Louisville attorney who has worked tirelessly for a free press in Kentucky, was the 2007 recipient.
The Scripps Howard First Amendment Center, directed by a committee of its faculty and staff, seeks to promote understanding of the First Amendment among citizens of Kentucky, to advocate for First Amendment rights in the Commonwealth and nationally, and to produce internationally recognized scholarship concerning the First Amendment and its related freedoms.
Loftus, who is the Frankfort bureau chief for the Louisville Courier-Journal, will be honored for his tireless effort as a watchdog for the citizens of Kentucky by the Scripps Howard First Amendment Center. The center, housed in the School of Journalism and Telecommunications at the University of Kentucky, created the award in 2006.
“The judges were unanimous in choosing Tom because of his long record of exposing abuses and following the money trail all over the state as people have sought to win influence and government contracts. He has been for three decades the best friend of the taxpayers of Kentucky,” said Mike Farrell, director of the center.
The award will be presented at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16, at the center’s annual First Amendment Celebration. After the ceremony, First Amendment advocate Jane Kirtley will deliver the keynote address. The event will be held at UK’s William T. Young auditorium.
Loftus, a journalism graduate of Ohio State University, began his career at The Kentucky Post in 1976. He became the newspaper’s Frankfort bureau chief in 1980 and joined the Courier-Journal in 1984. For the past 21 years, he has been the Louisville newspaper’s state capital bureau chief.
Reporting by Loftus in the early 1990s on contributions to gubernatorial campaigns from business people who depended on state government contracts prompted the General Assembly to pass a law, since repealed, that regulated the flow such contributions. During the 2007 gubernatorial campaign, Loftus again documented the way some business people were able to launder contributions to campaigns through the names of their employees, and a major state highway contractor paid a $250,000 fine as a result of the reporting. Loftus' reports documenting wasteful travel expenses and questionable contracting by the Kentucky Lottery in the early 1990s led to a state audit being conducted. That audit resulted in the resignations of the lottery board’s officers and directors.
Perhaps his most significant story for taxpayers was a story that revealed Kentucky taxpayers were losing millions of dollars because of the lack of competition for state blacktopping contracts. The report, which he investigated and wrote with his colleague John Voskuhl, included a map showing the various blacktop contractors and the regions where they dominated the road work. Loftus updated that report this summer in a story that showed that the monopolies persist at a cost of millions of dollars per year to taxpayers.
“This is journalism in its highest form,” said Beth Barnes, director of UK’s School of Journalism and Telecommunications. “Using open records requests and his own reporting skills, Tom Loftus has shown Kentuckians how their money was being wasted and who was paying for influence and government contracts. Every Kentuckian should salute Tom for his service to the state, to taxpayers and to the First Amendment."
“The judges felt Tom was a worthy recipient of this award because of his work demanding a public accounting of what goes on out of the spotlight. His reporting has invigorated a free press in this state,” said Farrell, who worked with Loftus at the beginning of their careers.
The Madison Award for Service to the First Amendment was created by the Scripps Howard First Amendment Center committee in 2006. Loftus will become the third recipient. Judy Clabes, who as editor of The Kentucky Post was a tireless advocate for freedom of the press and led the effort to found the center and worked to fund it, was the first recipient. Jon Fleischaker, a Louisville attorney who has worked tirelessly for a free press in Kentucky, was the 2007 recipient.
The Scripps Howard First Amendment Center, directed by a committee of its faculty and staff, seeks to promote understanding of the First Amendment among citizens of Kentucky, to advocate for First Amendment rights in the Commonwealth and nationally, and to produce internationally recognized scholarship concerning the First Amendment and its related freedoms.