Slain Journalist, Transparency Advocate Honored

The New England First Amendment Coalition’s annual awards luncheon was held on Feb. 20, 2015, in Boston, and honored local advocates of open government and the freedom of the press.

State Rep. Harriet Cady, a long-time open government advocate from Northwood, received this year’s Antonia Orfield Citizenship Award. She was honored for her work promoting freedom of information, including the creation of Right to Know New Hampshire, a watchdog group, as well as fighting measures that would increase the cost of getting basic public information.

The parents of James Foley – Diane and John Foley – accepted the organizations Freedom of Information Award posthumously on behalf of their son, who was murdered by ISIS terrorists last year. The couple has created a foundation in their son’s name and during their speech, spoke about the difficulty attempting to get information from the government about their son.

“We hope to not only improve the safety of freelance journalists, but to really lobby for the media organizations to defend their colleagues, not eat their young, not wait for the next big story, but to actually group together to defend those people who were on their mission to deliver the truth but were struck down by being captive,” John Foley said.