Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame
The 2021 Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame event will be held via Zoom on Tuesday, May 4, 2021.
Click here to learn more about the Journalism Hall of Fame
Annual Creason Lecture
Please click here on April 21, 2021 to join us on Zoom
The Joe Creason Lecture in Journalism is an annual lecture by a nationally prominent journalist in a series that honors the memory of Joe Creason, an outstanding Kentucky journalist and an honored alumnus. The lecture series was made possible through a matching grant from the Bingham Enterprises Foundation of Kentucky and gifts donated by UK alumni and friends of Joe Creason. The Joe Creason Lecture Series Fund was established in 1975. Each year a journalism professional is brought to campus to meet and talk with students, and to speak before an assemblage of students, faculty and the general public. Past Creason Lectures can be viewed here.
Joe Creason
Before his death on August 14, 1974, Joe Creason had been hailed as "a crack newspaperman" who inspired trust in those about whom he wrote. The Creason wit and humor, his friendly manner and his love for Kentucky always showed through his writings for The Courier-Journal (Louisville) and The Courier-Journal Sunday Magazine. He was a Kentuckian -- a native of Benton ("The only town in which I was born"). A graduate of the University of Kentucky (Class of 1940) and a rabid booster of his Alma Mater, he was national president of the UK Alumni Association in 1969-70. People who knew Joe Creason number in the thousands in every county of the state. From his column, "Joe Creason's Kentucky," in The Courier-Journal, his two books, a radio series started before his death and his speech-making, he is remembered as a man who was never too busy to enjoy people. At the time of Joe Creason's death, an anonymous mourner left a note on the door of his Courier-Journal office. It said simply, "So long Joe -- and thanks," and was signed "Kentucky."
Creason Lecturers with affiliations at the time of their speech:
2020 No lecture given
2019 No lecture given
2018 Sam Abell, National Geographic photographer
2017 Terry Hunt, AP Veteran
2016 Jeffery Marks, General manager of a Virginia television station
2015 Pamela Brown, CNN national news correspondent
2014 Mervin Aubespin, Louisville Courier Journal, associate editor (retired), former national president, National Association of Black Journalists
2013 Al Tompkins, Senior Faculty Broadcast and Online, The Poynter Institute
2012 John Harwood, CNBC, New York Times political writer
2011 Leonard Pitts, Jr., Miami Herald, nationally syndicated columnist
2010 Tom Curley, Associated Press, President and CEO
2009 Howard Fineman, Newsweek/MSNBC, columnist
2008 John Carroll, former editor, Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, Lexington Herald-Leader
2007 Molly Bingham, Journalist, Photographer, Filmmaker
2006 David Broder, Washington Post, columnist
2005 Leonard Downie, Jr., Washington Post, executive editor
2004 Earl Caldwell, New York Times, former civil rights-era reporter
2003 Bob Edwards, National Public Radio, host of Morning Edition
2002 Angelo B. Henderson, The Detroit News, special projects reporter
2001 Bonnie Angelo, Time Magazine, contributor
2000 Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune, columnist
1999 Charles L. Overby, The Freedom Forum, chairman & CEO
1998 Hodding Carter III, Knight Foundation, president & CEO
1997 Michael Gartner, NBC News, former president
1996 Geneva Overholser, Washington Post, ombudsman
1995 Robert Mulholland, NBC, former president
1994 Burl Osborne, Dallas Morning News, publisher/editor
1993 Jim Squires, Chicago Tribune, former editor
1992 Helen Thomas, UPI, reporter
1991 Bernard Shaw, CNN, anchor
1990 David Kindred, The National Sports Daily, columnist
1989 Charles Kuralt, CBS News, correspondent
1988 John Ed Pearce, Louisville Courier-Journal, columnist
1987 John C. Quinn, USA Today, editor
1986 Eugene Patterson, St. Petersburg Times, Chairman & CEO
1985 Charles McDowell, Richmond Times-Dispatch, syndicated columnist
1984 David Dick, CBS Television News, correspondent
1983 Harrison E. Salisbury, New York Times, associate editor
1982 William Safire, New York Times, Washington Bureau
1981 Thomas G. Wicker, New York Times, associate editor
1980 John F. Day, CBS News, former director
1979 James Reston, New York Times, columnist
1978 No lecture given
1977 James J. Kilpatrick, Washington Star, syndicated columnist
The State of the First Amendment Address
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE 2020 STATE OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT ADDRESS BY STEPHEN BATES
Gidel/Lombardo Lecture Series
The Gidel/Lombardo Lecture in Sports Communication is a recurring lecture series featuring a sports journalist, sports publicist, or other sports communicator.
The Gidel/Lombardo Family Fund for Academic and Program Excellence was established in 2006 by Robert and Linda Gidel and members the Lombardo family. This fund honors their son, Robert (Rob) W. Gidel. Rob is a 2006 graduate of the School of Journalism and Telecommunications. Funds from the endowment may be used to support scholarships, internships, workshops, distinguished alumni lectures, student travel, seminar speakers, publications, to provide assistance to extracurricular student organizations and clubs, student recruitment, and other related activities. Because of Rob's interest in sports broadcasting, a sports journalism lecture is presented annually. The first lecture in 2010 was delivered by NBC sportscaster Bob Costas.
Bob Costas - Gidel/Lombardo Lecture 2010 from Nathan Stevens on Vimeo.
Richard G. Wilson Alumni Symposium
The school's majors, journalism and media arts and studies, celebrate the success of their graduates for the benefit of current students. Outstanding alumni are invited back for a symposium to talk about their careers, the path to that first job, what they wished they had done differently in college and other advice. The symposium was started by former Courier-Journal reporter and Hall of Fame journalist Richard G. Wilson when he served as interim director. The symposium was continued and named in his honor.
