Eight months after publishing a special section decrying massive layoffs at The Denver Post and criticizing its owners for losing sight of the paper’s mission, former editorial page editor Chuck Plunkett will be honored by the National Press Club Nov. 29 for igniting a national dialogue about the fate of local journalism.
“Chuck Plunkett’s decision to publish a newspaper that called out its owners for mismanaging that paper was a remarkable act of courage,” said Andrea Edney, president of the organization, which will award Plunkett its John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award at the Fourth Estate Dinner in Washington, D.C. “That special section gave voice to papers all around the country that have seen their ranks thinned. It was a clarion call to save local journalism.”
Plunkett resigned from The Denver Post shortly after publishing the April 6 package, when the paper tried to block another editorial criticizing owner Alden Global Capital. He now directs CU News Corps, a student-produced investigative journalism program at the College of Media Communication and Information.