By Matthew Hirsch

On the 40th anniversary of the Free Speech Movement, the California First Amendment Coalition recognized special achievements in promoting the public's right to know Oct. 9 at the close of its ninth annual Open Government assembly. The ceremony, which took place under a blue sky in the courtyard of North Gate Hall, home to the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, capped a successful weekend at the Berkeley campus dedicated to First Amendment rights.

Earlier, as the assembly began, nearly 1,000 people crowded into Pauley Hall to hear investigative journalist Seymour Hersh deliver a keynote address on the perils of the war in Iraq and the failure of the mainstream press to question the Bush administration since 9/11.

CFAC honored two newspapers, a veteran journalist, three legislators, and a citizen activist with Beacon Awards for outstanding efforts in resisting government secrecy. The group also handed the city of Oakland the Darkness Award for violating the California Public Records Act and the city's own Sunshine Ordinance to deny a journalist's request to review high-paid public employees' salary information.

The following were Beacon Award recipients:

• The Contra Costa Times, for revealing widespread secrecy at public agencies throughout the East Bay. The Times began reporting on its findings in July, and as part of its investigation, the paper sued the city of Oakland for access to its employee salary information.

• The Oakland Tribune, for documenting deficiencies in electronic voting systems manufactured by Diebold. Diebold knew of the problems before its sold the voting machines to California counties for use in the upcoming elections, the Tribune reported.

• Denny Walsh, a 45-year veteran investigative journalist who has worked at the New York Times, Life magazine, and the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, where he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1969. Walsh has been writing for the Sacramento Bee since 1987.

• Toni Atkins and Donna Frye, San Diego City Council members, for boycotting meetings they believed were in violation of the state's Ralph M. Brown Act. They later steered through a new city requirement for increased disclosure about items discussed in closed meeting sessions.

• George Kennedy, the Santa Clara district attorney, for opening grand jury investigations into two police shootings of unarmed men. The investigations are routine, but they're usually closed off from the public.

• Watchourcity.com, a public interest Web site set up by residents of Huntington Park to apply a little public scrutiny to local elected officials.

E-mail Matthew Hirsch at matthew@sfbg.com.