The Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists will honor adjunct journalism professors Scott Glover and Matt Lait with the Freedom of Information Award at its 32nd annual awards banquet. The banquet will be held April 30, with the location to be determined.

“The journalists being honored this year are very accomplished and exemplify the ideals championed by the Society of Professional Journalists — to seek truth and provide a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues,” SPJ-LA President Lauren Bartlett said. Four other journalists will be honored in other categories.

SPJ-LA presents the awards to members of the profession who demonstrate good news judgment, a strong sense of ethics and a passion for getting the story right. Honorees are journalists who have achieved a record of accomplishments over the course of several years.

The Society of Professional Journalists is the nation's largest and most broad-based journalism organization, dedicated to promoting high standards of ethical behavior and encouraging the free practice of journalism. Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, SPJ works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press.

About Glover:

Glover has been at the Los Angeles Times for 10 years, covering the LAPD, working on the paper’s investigative team and most recently, serving as an investigative reporter in the city-county bureau. Before going to the Times, Glover worked at daily newspapers in Oregon, New Jersey and Florida. He has won numerous local, state and national awards for investigative reporting, including the prestigious Livingston Award for Young Journalists. He received the Heywood Broun Award in Washington, D.C., for stories undermining the 20-year-old murder case against a San Fernando Valley man imprisoned for killing his mother. Glover was also a key contributor to the Times’ coverage of the 2003 California wildfires, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news.

About Lait:

Lait has been a reporter with the Los Angeles Times for 17 years. Prior to joining the Times, he worked as an editorial assistant and reporter for two years at the Washington Post. He has won more than a dozen local and state awards for his reporting. Lait played roles in two staff efforts that resulted in Pulitzer Prizes for the Times, one for coverage of the 1997 North Hollywood shootout, the other for coverage of the 2003 California wildfires. He received the Heywood Broun Award in Washington, D.C. for stories undermining the 20-year-old murder case against a San Fernando Valley man imprisoned for killing his mother. Lait was recently promoted and is now a legal affairs editor overseeing coverage of courts and police.

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