Kernel Media earns national recognition for multimedia storytelling

Two years after successfully prioritizing multimedia and multiplatform storytelling, Kernel Media continues to advance its digital outreach across campus and the greater Lexington area.

The 2024-25 academic year saw Kernel Media student publications — the Kentucky Kernel and KRNL Lifestyle + Fashion magazine — produce more video content than ever and take home more than 100 awards, including 27 first place finishes across national and regional competitions.

Also on the digital front, The Kernel Chronicles, the Kernel’s broadcast magazine that began publishing in 2024, received recognition from the Ohio Valley Emmy Awards this year.

“I was very happy about the increase of videos the Kernel produced this past academic year,” said Bryce McNeil, the student media coordinator for the University of Kentucky College of Communication and Information. “Both the Kernel Chronicles as well as KRNL’s investigative reporting and multimedia use are causes for celebration.”

Abbey Cutrer, the Kernel’s editor-in-chief for the 2024-25 academic year, said the media outlet’s ongoing shift to digitals lent well to expanding coverage beyond campus news — one of her main goals at the Kernel’s helm.

“We certainly bolstered our coverage of off-campus and city topics,” Cutrer said. “We had stellar photos to go along with every story, vertical videos for social media that gained thousands, sometimes millions of views, intentional writing and ultimately we worked together as a staff to make sure every story was told as a package.”

Likewise, KRNL took note of the Kernel’s multimedia successes and sought to implement their own strategies during the last academic year.

Laurel Swanz, KRNL’s 2024-25 editor-in-chief, said she established an entire videography team to tackle broadcast-style story elements as well as behind-the-scenes content.

As a result, this past spring, nearly all printed stories in KRNL’s semesterly magazine were accompanied by video elements for the first time.

Swanz also used the magazine’s glossy medium and exceptional pick-up rate to “prioritize students and hit our target audience with stories we knew we wanted to bring their attention to,” she said, including an in-depth investigative report as well as high-profile interviews that still underscored student perspectives.

As KRNL continues to evolve, current editor-in-chief Reaghan Chen also intends on maintaining the magazine’s identity as a hub “where students can step outside of their comfort zone and take their creative and journalistic abilities to new heights,” she said.

McNeil highlighted that while Kernel Media’s current digital efforts are comprehensive, students will continue to evolve over time and with added resources.

“The exciting thing is I don’t see this as even close to complete,” McNeil said. “Where we’ve actually evolved the most is the video and audio quality of vod/podcasts. Moving to the William T. Young Library, and now Pence, the students have sharpened their abilities on the mixing boards, in terms of camera setups and isolating shots for socials.”

In addition to a podcast recording studio, the college’s renovated Pence Hall now houses the Kernel Media offices as well as a lightbox photo studio. These spaces — and the Downtown Studio at Central Bank Center — will be essential for placing multimedia skills in the hands of every student who works for either publication, current Kernel editor-in-chief Giana Gallo said.

“My goal is to enable any student who walks through our doors to pick up a camera and use it to capture photos for a gallery or film a video sequence,” Gallo said. “I want everyone to dabble in everything possible.”

UK student media advisor Ryan Craig explained Kernel Media’s depth of coverage continues to expand not only to adapt to audiences but also to address a rapidly shifting journalism job market.

“The business has changed so much since the [COVID-19] pandemic that a student with a wide variety of skills, especially if they can shoot a video or fly a drone on top of writing, will end up getting a much better opportunity for employment when they leave,” Craig said.

Craig, who received the Distinguished Adviser Award from the College Media Association in 2024, said Kernel Media now looks to “balance out” after hitting the ground running with multimedia.

“Now that we’ve had this tremendous push toward multimedia, I think the biggest thing most students can work on is storytelling,” Craig said. “What’s important to consider is how we tell our stories from beginning to end in different versions, telling them well and accurately. They’re going to have to think more strategically from here on out.”