The Blessing of Journalists is planned, in part, as a commemoration of FrederickDouglass, abolitionist and publisher of The North Star. The Episcopal Church remembers Douglass on February 20. Douglas was a prophetic witness to the sinfulness of slavery and spoke this truth to a nation in need of repentance and reform. In a speech before the American Anti-Slavery Society, May 11, 1847, Douglas spoke of the need for unrelenting assault on the institution of slavery. “The conscience of the American public needs this irritation. And I would blister it all over, from center to circumference, until it gives signs of a purer and a better life than it is now manifesting to the world.” As an enduring symbol of the power journalists possess to move the heart of the nation toward the common good, the award recipient will be given a framed page from the paper founded by Douglass.
2020 BISHOP's AWARD RECIPIENT:
Wayne E. Phaneuf
Wayne E. Phaneuf, executive editor of The Republican, retired on January 1, 2020. His career at the paper began in 1969. Over the past fifty years, Mr. Phaneuf’s work has had a demonstrable impact on the life of our community. During his tenure the paper emerged strong in the print-to-digital transformation. In 2018 Phaneuf received the Yankee Quill Award, the highest award given to journalists in New England.
