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Gold seal: AHCJ Right-to-Know Committee Sunshine Award

Sunshine Award

Presented by AHCJ’s Right-to-Know Committee

AHCJ’s Right-to-Know Committee established the Sunshine Award at Health Journalism 2026 as a way to elevate the work of journalists like STAT’s Bob Herman who fight for government transparency. We plan to continue this tradition annually from now on. Award winners receive free registration and a one-night hotel stay for our annual conference, a free year of AHCJ membership, a trophy and a certificate.

Learn more about the Award Join the Right-to-Know Committee

2026 Winner Bob Herman

Bob Herman, a business of health care reporter with STAT, won the inaugural Sunshine Award for his piece “The silence of CMS.” In it, Herman implored the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to “end the opacity with reporters and the public.” He lambasted the agency for making reporters who have questions fill out an online form, only to receive back an empty statement that can’t be attributed to anyone.

In accepting the award at HJ26, Herman said his article came about because he was feeling “grumpy” about how government agencies treat reporters — and then urged his fellow journalists to “get grumpy” and hold those in power accountable.

Read the press release

I am proud to be part of the committee that developed the award, and glad we were able to honor such a deserving writer and his groundbreaking article.

Joyce Frieden
Co-chair, AHCJ Right-to-Know Committee
Washington editor, MedPage Today

Sunshine Award Details

Honoree will either:

  1. Call out a government agency or other public entity that is withholding information from the public by avoiding interviews or press conferences, not responding to requests for information that should be in the public domain, etc., OR
  2. Will have successfully overcome such obstacles to tell a story involving corruption of a government entity, OR
  3. Can show the dogged reporting they did to try to bring information to light.

While the honoree may have done a significant amount of investigative work to get — or try to get — the story, judging of the award will not be based on the story output but instead on the effort made to get whatever story came out of it. The work must have been done in the calendar year before the award.

Honorees can nominate themselves or be nominated by AHCJ members. The honoree themselves does not have to be an AHCJ member. Judging for the annual award will be done by the Right-to-Know Committee.

To nominate a candidate, email rtk@healthjournalism.org. Include the candidate’s name, links to their relevant work OR information about the reporting they did to try to bring the information to light, and why you think they deserve the Award.

Award winners receive free registration and a one-night hotel stay for our annual conference, a free year of AHCJ membership, a trophy and a certificate.

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