The School of Journalism and Communication gave an award to a controversial figure in the journalism industry last Thursday despite Sinclair Broadcasting Group questioning
the decision.
Jon Leiberman was honored with a professional citation by the judging committee of the 2005 Payne Awards. Leiberman, formerly Sinclair’s Washington bureau chief, was fired after publicly protesting his employer’s decision to air programming critical of John
Kerry days before the 2004 election.
Leiberman alleged that classifying the Kerry documentary as news resulted in unbalanced news coverage.
Sinclair President David Smith sent a letter questioning the Payne committee’s logic when the journalism school announced it would honor Leiberman.
Journalism and Communications Dean Tim Gleason said Smith’s protest was based on the finding of the Maryland Department of Labor, which restricted Leiberman from receiving unemployment benefits because he committed “gross misconduct” in speaking to the press without permission.
The journalism dean answered Sinclair’s query in a letter to the company dated May 9.
“The Maryland Department of Labor finding that Mr. Leiberman had violated provisions of his contract prohibiting speaking to the press/media without permission and the sharing of propriety information outside the company does not negate the fact that he acted in order to uphold values that are central to the practice of journalism in the public interest,” the letter reads. “It was a principled stand in the face of significant pressure.”
Gleason said Sinclair’s letter prompted the judging committee to revisit its decision to honor Leiberman.
“They gave us information that we didn’t have,” Gleason said in an interview. “We
did look at that award in the context of
that new information and confirmed our
original decision.”
“We believe he violated his contract in order to uphold journalistic principles of fairness and balance,” Gleason added.
The Sinclair Group could not be reached for comment on Friday or Monday.
Anthony Warren, membership chair and chairman-elect for College Republicans, said he thought giving Leiberman an award for ethics might be a stretch, but didn’t want to accuse the journalism school of partisanship.
“I don’t think it’s fair that they can approve this as an ethical issue because there was never any certainty as to who was being honest or dishonest,” Warren said. “The award doesn’t fit the context it’s being given in.”
Gleason said the decision was based solely on journalistic principles rather than politics.
“The politics of the situation had absolutely nothing to do with the decision,” Gleason said. “Presumably, if the politics had been reversed, our decision would have been the same.”
Controversy has swirled around the Sinclair Broadcasting Group since last spring, when the group forced its stations to block an episode of ABC’s Nightline in which Anchor Ted Koppel read the names of U.S. solders killed in Iraq.
Leiberman revealed to the press during the election season that the group had discussed preempting programs on its stations to air the Kerry documentary and that he had been fighting what he believed to be unbalanced news programming over several months.
“They have a First Amendment right to run what they want on their television stations — 62 of them,” Leiberman said in an October article in The Baltimore Sun. “But when they called it news, it stepped across the line.”
Gleason said the Payne Awards strive to honor those who uphold ethics.
“(Leiberman’s decision) speaks loudly to the power of journalism ethics and the practice of journalists who are willing to sacrifice careers to do the right thing,” Gleason said.
The Payne Award judging committee consists of eight individuals in the journalism industry, including editors, professors and one former executive. Only two members of the committee, Gleason and
Journalism and Communications Professor Tom Bivins, are part of
the University.

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