New York Times Public Editor
Earns Award for Series of Columns

A series of columns by Byron Calame, public editor of The New York Times, has earned the 2006 Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism.

The Bart Richards Award, presented annually by the College of Communications at Penn State, recognizes outstanding contributions to print and broadcast journalism through responsible analysis or critical evaluation. The award is intended to recognize constructively critical articles, books and electronic media reports; academic and other research; and reports by media ombudsmen and journalism watchdog groups.

This year’s award honors work produced during the 2006 calendar year. It will be presented Thursday, May 24, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

In the series of six columns Calame submitted for the award, he examined specific issues with reporting and stories that appeared in the Times. Among his submissions was a Jan. 1, 2006, column that reported that Times executive editor Bill Keller and publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. refused to respond to Calame’s questions regarding the content and timing of a Dec. 16, 2005, article about an eavesdropping conducted by the National Security Agency. His columns touched on a variety of topics as he focused on how Times reporters and editors did their jobs.

Judges for the Bart Richards Award thought Calame did his job well.

“I liked it very much and I respected it. It was certainly valid and important material,” said Richard Cole, the John T. Kerr Distinguished Professor and Dean Emeritus of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina.

“He was forthright in his examination and was not afraid to say exactly what he thought and to hold the newspaper accountable,” said Peter Bhatia, executive editor of The Oregonian and a former American Society of Newspaper Editors president.

“He demands a level of decision making transparency that the Times leaders demand of government leaders,” said Steve Geimann, a radio producer for Bloomberg News and a former president of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Byron “Barney” Calame joined the Times as its second public editor (succeeding Daniel Okrent) for a fixed, two-year term on May 23, 2005. In that ombudsman-like role as the readers’ representative, his responsibilities include making sure their concerns are heard and publicly assessing the paper’s journalistic integrity.

Calame retired at the end of 2004 as a deputy managing editor of The Wall Street Journal. His responsibilities included paper-wide quality control, maintaining and monitoring reporting and ethical standards and taking charge of the Journal in the absence of the managing editor.

Calame had joined the Journal in September 1965 and worked as a reporter in New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., before becoming a bureau chief in Pittsburgh in 1974. He returned to Los Angeles as bureau chief in September 1978 and in 1985 became an assistant managing editor in charge of West Coast coverage. He returned to New York as a senior editor in 1987 and became the deputy managing editor in 1992.

From 1961 to 1965, Calame served in the U.S. Navy as an officer on a minesweeper that was part of the first division of ships assigned to duty in South Vietnam, and as a public information officer in Washington.

In 2005, Calame was the recipient of the Gerald Loeb Lifetime Achievement Award “for exceptional career contributions in the field of business, financial and economic news.” The award recognizes a journalist “whose superior insight and professional skills have contributed to the public’s understanding of these issues.” In 2005 he also received the Elliott V. Bell Award from the New York Financial Writers Association for “a significant long-term contribution to the profession of financial journalism.”

In 2002, he was honored by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers with its Distinguished Achievement Award. The award cited his tireless efforts on behalf of The Journal and business journalism in general. He served as president of the 3,200-member national organization of business journalists during 2000-2001.

In 1996, he was a participant in the Bill Moyers television series, "Genesis, A Living Conversation."

A native of Missouri, Calame earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and a master’s degree in political science from the University of Maryland.

He is married to Kathryn Calame, professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics and of microbiology at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. They have two grown children.

The Bart Richards Award was endowed in 1994 by George Richards, retired president and chief executive officer of Granby, Conn.-based Vitex Packaging Inc. He established the award in memory of his father, Bart Richards, a former reporter and editor for the New Castle (Pa.) News.

Recent winners include: Sydney Schanberg for columns in The Village Voice, 2005; State of the News Media by Project for Excellence in Journalism (Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel), 2004; Lori Robertson for articles in American Journalism Review, 2003; Allan Wolper for "Ethics Corner" in Editor & Publisher, 2002; Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel for “The Elements of Journalism, 2001”; and The Media Unit of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, 2000.

The Thursday, May 24, award presentation will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a reception at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. For more information about the reception and award presentation, please call (814) 865-8801.

Bart Richards Former newspaper editor, namesake for the award.

If you have questions about the award, please contact

Steve Sampsell
Coordinator of College Relations
302 James Building
University Park, PA 16801

Phone: (814) 865-8801
Email: sws102@psu.edu