SPRINGFIELD (MA)
The Berkshire Eagle [Pittsfield MA]
October 13, 2023
A pair of Berkshire Eagle editorials that took the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield to task for targeting the reporter who revealed its mishandling of an abuse case has won a prestigious, national award for editorial writing.
America’s Newspapers, a newspaper advocacy group, awarded the Carmage Walls Commentary Prize to Dave Coffey, The Eagle’s editorial page editor, at the group’s annual conference this week in Chicago.
The prize is named for the late Benjamin Carmage Walls of Texas whose newspaper career spanned seven decades. Walls primarily owned community newspapers and advocated strong, courageous and positive editorial page leadership. Coffey’s editorials won in the under-35,000 circulation category.
In an announcement of the prize, America’s Newspapers explained the relevance of the editorials as follows:
“The editorials came on the heels of an investigative series in which Berkshire Eagle reporting exposed the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield’s efforts to cover up credible sexual abuse allegations against the late Bishop Christopher Joseph Weldon.
“Without the courage of the survivor and dogged investigative reporting, Coffey said it’s likely that the truth of a prominent diocesan figure’s brutal behavior and the efforts to sweep it under the rug would have stayed hidden forever.
“Coffey explained why the editorials were critical in calling out the situation, which he characterized as a “broadside against the First Amendment.”
“When the survivor led a civil suit over the childhood abuse he suffered and the mishandling of his report, the diocese responded in part by targeting The Eagle and the reporter who broke the story, Larry Parnass,” Coffey said. “The diocese threatened him with deposition and demanded an array of information from the newspaper including Mr. Parnass’ notes, which could have exposed confidential sources over years of sensitive reporting.
“Our editorials called out this chilling tactic for what it was: a shameless continuation of a discrediting campaign against an abuse survivor by going after the reporter who revealed damning truths in this regional chapter of the clergy abuse scandal. It was not just an attack on a community newspaper but a broadside against the First Amendment and the unique measure of accountability it vests in all newsrooms and editorial pages.
“When the diocese recently agreed to settle the civil suit, it formally admitted an abuse survivor’s truth that was raised from the dark depths to the surface in a way that only the free press can.”
The Eagle successfully fought off the legal challenge from the diocese to compel The Eagle to release its notes and to allow its reporter to be deposed by its legal team.
Judges in the Carmage Walls Commentary Prize explained why the editorials — Amid clergy abuse case, a chilling attack on free press, published Oct. 8, 2022, and “Settlement offers overdue contrition, a chance to do better,” from May 27 — were deserving of this year’s award:
“Taking on the Catholic Church is still tough after decades of scandals nationwide dating back to the mid-1980s,” they wrote. “The editorials did not just condemn the abuse of a child but pointed out how a powerful institution can go after a small newspaper and a single reporter in a state without a shield law, and how the public, not just the paper, is hurt when that happens. Well written and well presented.”
“Even though it’s no longer a dark secret in the U.S., calling out the Church still takes courage, especially when the Church goes after a newspaper with its lawyers. The editorials also showed why readers should care about the lawsuit, not just the paper itself.”
“This piece checks all of the boxes — calls out abuse of power by clergy, trying to squelch free press and damage the First Amendment under the darkness of a covered-up sex scandal. Plus, it also shows that digging and research will almost always lead to good journalism.”
In announcing the award to staff this week, Eagle publisher Fred Rutberg congratulated Coffey and thanked him “for shining a bright light on The Eagle and its editorial page.”
Read the editorials:
Amid clergy abuse case, a chilling attack on free press, Oct. 8, 2022
Settlement offers overdue contrition, a chance to do better, May 27, 2023