BOSTON - The New England First Amendment Coalition will present its second annual Stephen Hamblett First Amendment Award to Martin Baron, editor of The Boston Globe.

   Baron's service to the First Amendment and dedication to freedom of information will be honored during a Feb. 10 luncheon at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel.

   Terrence Williams, publisher of The Telegraph of Nashua, N.H., and chairman of NEFAC's nominating committee, said Baron's work in his decade at the Globe is precisely the First Amendment advocacy the organization seeks to honor.

   "If one considers just his and his newspaper's work on the clergy scandal, it's obvious the level of determination that was needed to get that story published," Williams said. "He and his staff have repeatedly demonstrated the will to inform the public, no matter the obstacles."

    Baron came to the Globe in 2001 following stints at The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and The Miami Herald.

   NEFAC is a regional organization devoted to furthering the five freedoms of the First Amendment and government transparency. The award is named for the late publisher and chairman of The Providence Journal.   

   The luncheon will be held in conjunction with the New England Newspaper & Press Association's 2012 convention and trade show. 

   "During his 35 years in journalism, Mr. Baron has dedicated himself to providing the public with insightful reporting on government and holding public officials accountable," said Mary Jane Wilkinson, acting NEFAC president and a retired Globe editor. 

   "He has said good journalism will expose betrayals of the public trust and that is exactly what he and his news staff at the Globe have set about doing." 

   The Globe has won five Pulitzer Prizes during Baron's tenure, including those for public service, explanatory journalism, national reporting and criticism.  

   The 2003 Pulitzer for Public Service recognized the newspaper's revelations of clergy sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

   Under Baron's leadership, The Miami Herald won the Pulitzer for breaking news coverage in 2001 for coverage of the Elián González custody dispute.  

   Baron has twice been named "Editor of the Year;" first by Editor & Publisher in April of 2001 and second by the National Press Foundation in 2004.

   He began his journalism career at The Miami Herald in 1976, serving as a state reporter and later as a business writer. He took his first editing position in 1983 as business editor for the Los Angeles Times.  He became assistant managing editor for page-one special reports, public opinion polling, and special projects in 1991, and in 1993 editor of the newspaper's Orange County edition.

   Baron moved to The New York Times in 1996 and became associate managing editor responsible for the nighttime news operations of the newspaper in 1997. He became executive editor at The Miami Herald in 2000.