The Boston Globe to Receive NEFAC’s Michael Donoghue FOI Award for ‘State Secrets’ Series

The New England First Amendment Coalition will honor The Boston Globe with its 2025 Michael Donoghue Freedom of Information Award.

Named after Vermont reporter Michael Donoghue, the FOI Award is given each year to a New England journalist or team of journalists for a body of work from the previous calendar year that protects or advances the public’s right to know under federal or state law. Preference is given to those who overcome significant official resistance.

Through extensive document gathering, data analysis, and old- fashioned beat reporting, the Globe produced “State Secrets, ” a multi-part series last year that painted a troubling picture of how lax rules, secretive practices, and undemocratic habits make the Massachusetts Legislature a feast for special interests and a mystery to the general public it is sworn to serve.

The team of journalists — led by reporters Laura Crimaldi, Samantha Gross, Emma Platoff and Matt Stout — had to overcome obstacles. It took the state about two months to provide accurate salary data for Massachusetts legislators. The reporters spent hours in the state library to reconcile differences between House records, Senate records, and state almanacs regarding the number of committees that each session of the Legislature convened. They relied on all those sources as well as contemporaneous news coverage to build their own accurate list.

The reporters also had to deal with hostile source. The Speaker of the House and the Senate President refused repeated requests for interviews. At times, they criticized the Globe’s work publicly, and in at least one instance retaliated by handing a competitor a scoop on an unrelated issue.

Despite these difficulties, the Globe’s reporting resulted in several ballot measures for the 2026 and 2028 elections that seek to address some of the issues the series exposed, including subjecting the Legislature to public records law and a measure to rein in leadership stipends — efforts, the organizers said, that were directly inspired by this series.

NEFAC will honor The Boston Globe at a private ceremony next month. The coalition will also present its Stephen Hamblett First Amendment Award and Antonia Orfield Citizenship Award during the program.

Supporters of NEFAC and the 15th annual New England First Amendment Awards include Boston University, The Boston Globe, Hearst Connecticut Media Group, Emerson College, Northeastern University, Morgan Lewis, The Day, and The University of Rhode Island.

Previous recipients of the Michael Donoghue Freedom of Information Award:

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NEFAC was formed in 2006 to advance and protect the Five Freedoms of the First Amendment, including the principle of the public’s right to know. We’re a broad-based organization of people who believe in the power of an informed democratic society. Our members include lawyers, journalists, historians, academics and private citizens.

Our coalition is funded through contributions made by those who value the First Amendment and who strive to keep government accountable. Please make a donation here.

NEFAC appreciates the support of all its donors and contributors. In particular, we would like to recognize the Estate of Gloria L. Negri, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the following Leadership Circle donors: Rhode Island Foundation, The Boston Globe, Paul and Ann Sagan, and the Robertson Foundation. Major Supporters of NEFAC’s work include Hearst Connecticut Media Group, Boston University, the Academy of New England Journalists and WCVB-Boston.