Hats off to the Maine Trust for Local News, winning a New England First Amendment Award, Sept. 21, for its relentless pursuit of public records relating to the mass shooting in Lewiston last October. The Maine Trust’s award covers six months of stalwart reporting.

The Trust encountered “enormous and consistent resistance by the Maine State Police and others to shield some police decisions and actions in the months leading up to the shootings and in the shooting aftermath.” According to the published Governor’s Commission findings, police had enough information to take Card into protective custody, and take away his weapons, prior to the tragedy.

The referenced Maine Trust Awards were issued by the New England Newspaper & Press Association, at the entity’s annual fall conference held in Providence, Rhode Island. The considerable honor was accepted by Marla Hoffman, night managing editor, for the Sun Journal.

Okay, readers may wonder why this letter only repeats an article in the Sunday paper (“Maine Trust newspaper honored for coverage,” Sept. 22, 2024). But that was part B, Page 2! Not front page; center! Constitutional, First Amendment compliance!

Without much access to law enforcement records, Trust journalists worked their sources and were able to report a great deal about the shooting. In pursuit of information, Hoffman voiced it best: “Our journalists firmly believed that the public had an absolute and compelling right to know what happened here,” as painful as that knowledge has been for so many people.

Constitutional, First Amendment efforts, alive at the local level!

John Benoit

Manchester