Senior Jake Moore was named College Journalist of the Year on Friday, and Moore and junior Debra Murray shared in the Jon Fleischaker Freedom of Information Award at the Kentucky Press Association winter convention banquet in Lexington.
Moore, a journalism major from Louisville, was celebrated for his work during the October 2021-September 2022 times frame. The Fleischaker Award honored Moore and Murray’s work covering the unusual events surrounding a special Board of Regents meeting in July in which the regents rejected a recommendation from WKU President Timothy Caboni to fire a tenured professor for incompetence.
Also at the banquet, the College Heights Herald won second place for general excellence among Kentucky college news organizations. Nearly every entry from the Herald won an award, including 11 first-place honors.
The Herald has won the Fleischaker Award three of the four years it has been given The two previous wins were:
- The Herald staff was honored for its 2019 coverage of chaos in the WKU administration that led to a rare vote of no confidence by the faculty senate and ultimately the forced resignation of then-Provost Terry Ballman.
- Lily Burris, a December 2021 graduate, and Murray, a journalism major from Louisville, shared the award for 2021 for their in-depth report on how WKU investigated sexual misconduct allegations that students made against faculty and staff. It was a story that involves a years-long legal fight brought by their own university, one that continues today.
