Andersen Award

Peggy Watt, a 13-year member of the board of the Washington Coalition for Open Government, is being honored with the 2022 James Andersen Award for her outstanding service to the organization.

Watt is a journalism professor at Western Washington University, her undergraduate alma mater, where she earned degrees in journalism and political science. Today her favorite courses include Mass Media Law and a seminar, Introduction to the First Amendment, and advising student publications.

She worked as a reporter at several newspapers in the Pacific Northwest before moving to California, where she covered Silicon Valley for business and technology publications for 20 years, and earned a master’s at Stanford University. After joining the faculty at Western in 2004, she remained a contributing editor to PC World magazine, where she previously was online news editor, and continues to freelance when time permits.

In addition to editing the Coalition’s newsletter and helping organize several events, including the recent Open Government Town Hall and the Transparency Through Technology conference, she was instrumental in the 2022 launch of WashCOG’s new website, and continues to manage the site.

“Peggy has engaged students and introduced young people to the Coalition and been instrumental in getting them involved,” said Juli Bunting, WashCOG executive director.

Watt represents Western on the Bench-Bar-Press Committee and is active in the Law & Policy Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. She is a longtime member of the Society of Professional Journalists and serves on its national Journalism Education Committee.

The Andersen Award is given annually to an individual or organization that has done something extraordinary to advance the efforts of the Washington Coalition for Open Government.

It is named for the former Chief Justice of the Washington State Supreme Court, who served from 1992 until his retirement in 1995. Andersen was a founding member of the WashCOG board of directors and the first recipient of its James Madison Award.