Computerworld's editor in chief recognized for editorial courage

NEW YORK -- Computerworld editor in chief Maryfran Johnson yesterday was honored with a national business journalism award in recognition of her steadfast adherence to the "goal of placing readers first and maintaining independent, honest, and ethical journalism."

The Timothy White Award was presented to Johnson at an American Business Media luncheon here. Johnson was the first recipient of the prestigious award, which made its debut at the 50th Annual Neal Awards ceremony held to recognize excellence in business journalism. The award was named for a longtime editor of Billboard magazine who was considered the conscience of that publication and who died of a heart attack in June 2002. It was presented to Johnson by White's widow, Judith Garlan White.

The award cited several demonstrations of Johnson's courage and integrity, including a June 2001 editorial on Oracle Corp.'s decision to cancel a large amount of advertising after Computerworld published a series of articles on Oracle's unfair pricing policies (see story). Also cited was an October 2003 editorial titled "Ethics and Influence," in which Johnson, prompted by a Computerworld story on ethical questions raised by a Microsoft Corp.-sponsored Forrester Research Inc. report, drew attention to the role played by the media itself and its "spotty record in asking enough of the right questions about the pedigree of the research we report on" (see story).

"Upholding the editorial integrity of the work Computerworld does is already a privilege for me, as is leading the outstanding group of journalists we have here," Johnson said. "This award is a great honor for us all, but it's also a wonderful reminder of how important it is to keep our readers foremost in everything we do."

"This is testimony to our editorial mission to be the voice of IT management," said Bob Carrigan, CEO of Computerworld Inc. "We want to be the most trusted source for IT management, and it's gratifying that such a prestigious organization feels that our editorial leader stands above all others in terms of trust and integrity in journalism."

Also at the Neal Awards ceremony, Computerworld was honored as a finalist in the category "Best single issue of a newspaper/news tabloid" for its July 7, 2003, issue.