Obit: Brechner, 98

Freedom of information (FOI) and press freedom advocate Marion Brechner died in Salisbury, New York, United States of America on Jan. 6 after a brief illness. She was 98.

(Brechner – HTTP://MEDIA.TRB.COM/)

Brechner, together with her husband Joseph, a writer for radio programs during World War II, established a radio station, WGAY, in Maryland after the war. The Brechners bought WFTV-TV (formerly, WLOF-TV), a television broadcast station in Orlando, Florida by 1959. Their ownership grew into a media company, the Brechner Management Group (BMG) now managed by their son, Berl. Marion became company president in 1990 after her husband’s death.

BMG owns television stations in Kansas and Maryland and several radio stations in Ohio.

Marion Brechner was also considered a philantrophist, focusing on her FOI advocacy, especially in fighting for the freedoms guaranteed by the United States’ First Amendment. In 1985, she and her husband also established the University of Florida’s Joseph L. Brechner Center for Freedom of Information with a $1 million endowment.

She also funded the Marion Brechner Citizen Access Project, “a research initiative dedicated to comparing and rating the relative openness of state open records and meetings laws”, and the Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project, both of which were also conducted at the University of Florida. She also established the Joseph and Marion Brechner Fund for Jewish Cultural Reporting in Massachussets, and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a non-governmental organization advocating all forms of discrimination in the US. At ADL, she established and funded the Joseph L. Brechner Fellowship Program.

Brechner is survived by son Berl, daughter-in-law Katherine and grandchildren Elana, Joshua and Kara.

(Source, photo: http://media.trb.com/media/photo/2011-01/58676002.jpg)

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