PARTNERS FOR DEMOCRACY:

Working Together for Government Access

Introductions & Opening Remarks

       Tim Kelly has been editor of The Beaumont Enterprise, a Hearst newspaper, since October 1996. During that time, the newspaper annually has been named one of the top mid-sized dailies in six states and has won more than two dozen major awards for enterprise and investigative journalism. 

        Previously, he was assistant managing editor for news and sports at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Before that, he worked at the San Antonio Light, The Dallas Morning News, the Los Angeles Daily News, the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, USA Today and the Washington Post. He is president of the board of directors of Court Appointed Special Advocates of Southeast Texas, president of the Beaumont chapter of the Epilepsy Foundation of Southeast Texas and vice president of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.

       Randy Sanders is president of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.

       Formerly editor of The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal before retiring from the newspaper industry in January 2006, Sanders formed Sanders Communications in Lubbock, a marketing, news media and public relations consulting firm in July 2006. He serves as a media adviser for Carole Keeton Strayhorn. 

       Sanders is a former president of the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors Association and has served on the FOIFT board for several years, including two years as vice president and coordinator of the annual conference in 2003, 2004 and 2005. He also has served on the Texas Press Association/Texas Daily Newspaper Association legislative affairs committee.

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