The new inductees being recognized for their contributions to journalism include Tom Butler, retired vice president of news for WPSD-TV in Paducah.
In a press release, the hall of fame says that in addition to his 35 years of work in local television, Butler has been a mentor to other broadcast journalists and an advocate of strong journalism.
Others to join the hall of fame include:
Mary D. Ferguson, who became the first female reporter for Hopkinsville’s Kentucky New Era in 1962, then a columnist and the Pennyrile area’s unofficial historian until her death in 2016 (posthumous induction).
Lewis Conn and William Matthews, whose 1968 creation of the Newspapers Inc. chain changed the way Kentucky community newspapers were owned and published. (Conn is deceased and will be inducted posthumously.)
Ron Daley of Hazard, former editor and publisher of the groundbreaking Troublesome Creek Times in Hindman, now strategic partner lead for the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative.
Dr. Mike Farrell, professor of journalism at the University of Kentucky, director of its Scripps Howard First Amendment Center, and former managing editor of The Kentucky Post.
Bill Francis, retired reporter and anchor for WDRB-TV, who covered Louisville for 42 years and was the first full-time business reporter for a Kentucky television station.
Bettye Lee Mastin, a retired Lexington Herald-Leader reporter and author whose writing about historic architecture helped lead to the preservation of many historic structures in the Bluegrass.
Joe Palmer, a Lexington native and UK graduate whose Thoroughbred racing coverage for the New York Herald Tribune in the 1940s and ’50s was hailed by many contemporaries as the best (posthumous induction).
The luncheon on April 28 will be held at The Grand Reserve, 903 Manchester Street #190, Lexington, beginning at noon. Cost is $50 per person.
Reservations may be made online by following this link: http://www.ukalumni.net/journalismhalloffame .
Reservations must be received by Friday, April 21 to ensure seat availability.
The Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame recognizes Kentuckians who have made significant contributions to the profession of journalism. Nominees must be natives of Kentucky or journalists who have spent a significant portion of their careers in Kentucky.
The Hall of Fame has inducted Pulitzer Prize winners, reporters, editors, photographers, publishers, broadcasters, journalism teachers and others who have left their mark on journalism. Scan the honor roll of some 200 names and you’ll find the first African-American woman to cover the White House, the developer of gonzo journalism, a voice of Triple Crown races and winners of nearly every national journalism award.
The hall was created by the University of Kentucky Journalism Alumni Association in 1980. It is housed in the School of Journalism and Media in the Grehan Journalism Building on the Lexington campus. Nominees are inducted annually.
