Journalism society awards Chauncey Bailey group, reporters

The Chauncey Bailey Project and two of its journalists receive Freedom of Information awards.

By Josh Richman, Chauncey Bailey Project

The Chauncey Bailey Project and two of its reporters, Thomas Peele and Roland De Wolk, will receive James Madison Freedom of Information Awards from the Society of Professional Journalists Northern California Chapter.

Detrick Moore of Oakland looks at a memorial for Chauncey Bailey before a community mobilization event in Oakland in August 2007. (Sean Connelley, Oakland Tribune)

The Chauncey Bailey Project will receive a special citation for investigating the work and the death of the Oakland Post editor gunned down in Oakland last August. Reporters and editors from a wide range of news outlets, journalism schools and other organizations are collaborating on the project.

Bay Area News Group-East Bay investigative reporter Thomas Peele, 46, was cited “for his various efforts championing freedom of information” including his search for missing records from state Attorney General Jerry Brown’s tenure as Oakland’s mayor, resulting in the city’s recovery of thousands of e-mails which otherwise would’ve been lost.

Peele also played a key role, writing stories and training nearly a dozen other reporters, in California Aware’s audit of Public Records Act compliance by law enforcement agencies.

Peele was also the main reporter in a three-year effort by the Contra Costa Times to secure the release of government salary data. The state Supreme Court ruled in August that the exact salaries of public employees are public record and disclosable upon demand.

Roland De Wolk, a producer at KTVU Channel 2, will receive an award for leading an investigative team, which includes photographer Tony Hedrick and video editor Ron Acker, that uncovered the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s shoddy work collecting tolls from drivers who use the FasTrak lanes on Bay Area bridges illegally.

These and other awards will be presented at a banquet March 18 in San Francisco.