The College Heights Herald won the 2024 Jon Fleischaker Freedom of Information Award, given by the Associated Press at the Kentucky Press Association winter convention.
The Herald won the award — its fourth Fleischaker since the award was created in 2018 — for four stories published during the past year, all using public records and public access to tell stories that otherwise would have been missed:
- Deep reporting and analysis of how WKU overspent its budget in the 2022-23 fiscal year by more than $11 million, by Alexandria Anderson.
- A report using NCAA compliance audits to show the true amount at which WKU subsidizes its athletics program, by Jake McMahon.
- An investigative story using engineering studies to detail construction flaws and other problems that forced WKU to close its showcase dorm, Hilltopper Hall, by Cameron Shaw.
- An editorial using public records to call for more effective and inclusive leadership and respect for faculty and staff from the WKU administration, by the Herald Editorial Board led by Price Wilborn.
Shaw’s report on Hilltopper Hall also was named the best investigative story of the year and the best enterprise story of the year for the KPA’s student division.