February 2, 2024
Al Cross named 2023 KPA Most Valuable Member
Professor Al Cross (right) is presented with the KPA Most Valuable Member Award by KPA Executive Director David Thompson (left).
The Kentucky Press Association has named UK School of Journalism and Media's Professor Al Cross as its Most Valuable Member of 2023.
KPA Executive Director David Thompson presented the award at the association's annual convention held in Bowling Green in January. Cross, a highly respected and well-known national political reporter and expert in Kentucky politics, has a journalism career spanning some 50 years, with experience at weekly and large daily newspapers.
As the first director of the UK Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, he worked with community newspapers across Kentucky, as well as state press associations, to help improve the wellbeing of community newspapers. Thompson noted Cross's contributions to community newspapers in Appalachia as well as his significant involvement with the National Newspaper Association.