UA Jounalism Professor Will Receive Sunshine Forum Award for Contributions to Freedom of Information

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Dr. Edward Mullins, Behringer Distinguished Professor of Communication at The University of Alabama, will receive the Alabama Sunshine Forum Award on Sept. 30 for his contributions to Freedom of Information in Alabama as founding co-chairman of the Alabama Center for Open Government.

The organization is holding a day of workshops at The Sheraton Four Points Hotel. Mullins will receive his award following the luncheon speech and will be further honored at a reception that evening at the University Club.

“We have a long way to go,” Mullins said, “but being on the receiving end as ALACOG’s point of contact for hundreds of queries from citizens in all walks of life, I have been amazed at the thoughtfulness and dedicated concerns expressed by our citizens, especially in their interest in open government. I see a thirst for more responsible and responsive government and more responsive and responsible news media in these queries and in media editorial campaigns.”

Mullins, former dean of UA’s College of Communication and Information Sciences and chair of its journalism department, has spent 30 of his 68 years in Tuscaloosa, first as a student at the University, from which he received a Bachelor of Arts in journalism in 1958, then as associate dean, dean and department chair from 1977 to 2004.

Before teaching at UA, Mullins received a master’s degree from, and taught at, Ohio State University. Later he taught at, and received a doctorate from, UNC-Chapel Hill. He also worked on newspapers in Georgia, Texas, Ohio and North Carolina. In addition to full-time work on newspapers in four states, he worked part-time or served as consultant for more than 25 newspapers in a dozen states.

“I’ve been a newspaper junkie all my life,” Mullins said.

“I learned to read by memorizing baseball standings and box scores in the Montgomery Advertiser, and I’ve been hooked on newspapers ever since. I could read ‘Boston Red Sox’ and ‘Chicago Cubs’, as well as lineups and box score intricacies by the time I could say my ABCs.”

Mullins has been involved in journalism for more than 50 years, beginning as sports editor of his high school paper, The Cup O’ Coffee, Enterprise High School, in Coffee County. In college he worked on The Crimson White, in UA sports information and as sports stringer for The Dothan Eagle. He interned at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution before getting a full-time job with that paper in 1958.

ALACOG first appeared on the FOI scene in January 2000. A member of the National Freedom of Information Coalition, a Knight Foundation-supported umbrella FOI organization, its purpose is to educate and assist citizens and media seeking access to public records and meetings.

ALACOG’s primary purpose is educational – to provide the rationale and assistance for citizens to keep meetings and public documents open and accessible. It also aims to stimulate civic renewal and trust in government and to recognize outstanding best open government practices in the state.

“I have been very proud of what ALACOG, in concert with the state’s news media and other groups, has contributed to the positive civic changes I have seen over the past few years,” Mullins said. “Our Open Records Audit, Sunshine Sunday Editorial Campaign, and now Alabama Sunshine Forum are tangible results of a growing interest in responsible government in our state.”

Mullins, co-founding chairman along with Carol Nunnelley, was selected as the namesake for an annual FOI award, the “Ed Mullins Alabama Freedom of Information Award.” ALACOG’s directors voted for Mullins to receive the Alabama Sunshine Forum Award in 2004 and to present the award bearing his name in 2005.

Two Tuscaloosa News executives provided early leadership and persuasive arguments to build an FOI organization in Alabama. They were Ron Sawyer (now retired), publisher, and the late Bruce Giles, executive editor. Sawyer and Giles brought their zeal for open government with them from Florida, where they worked for New York Times Regional newspapers. Sawyer and Giles recruited Mullins, who recruited Carol Nunnelley, and the organization began.

Gregory Enns, managing editor of The Tuscaloosa News, succeeded Mullins as chairman of ALACOG in 2004.