Two alumni of the College Heights Herald — J. Scott Applewhite and Jerry Brewer — joined the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame on Thursday in Lexington.
Applewhite, senior Washington photojournalist for The Associated Press, and Brewer, national sports columnist for The Washington Post, were among eight inductees into the Journalism Hall of Fame’s 42nd class.
Both praised their time at WKU and on the College Heights Herald as being pivotal in their launching their careers, especially lauding their adviser Bob “Mr. A” Adams for his influence on helping them reach for excellence in their careers.
Applewhite, whose photo from inside the U.S. House chamber during the Jan. 6 insurrection became an iconic image of that event, has worked to The AP since 1981. He has traveled the world covering wars and major news events, and twice was on teams honored with the Pulitzer Prize for photojournalism. “Scotty,” as he is known, also has won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the White House News Photographers Association. His insurrection photo won Picture of the Year for spot news.
A native of Elizabethtown, Applewhite also worked for The Gleaner in Henderson, The Courier-Journal and The Palm Beach Post before joining AP.
Brewer, whose work reaches far beyond the playing field to important moments in life and society, joined The Washington Post in 2015 and is the national sports columnist. He was named one of the nation’s Top 10 sports columnists by The Associated Press in 2016 and 2017. Brewer became a sports columnist at the age of 25 at the Orlando Sentinel and then went to The Seattle Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer. His approach to sports journalism: “The game is not the story. The game is a platform to tell a story.”
A native of Paducah, Brewer was co-editor-in-chief of the College Heights Herald and also reported for The Courier-Journal.
At least 21 other people with ties to WKU have previously been inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame: Julian Goodman, David. B Whitaker, James D. Ausenbaugh, Larry Craig, Jo-Ann Huff Albers, Bob Adams, Al Tompkins, Neil Budde, Al Cross, Bill Luster, Dan Modlin, Mark Hebert, Wes Strader, Tom Eblen, Chuck Stinnett, Donna Stinnett, Corban Goble, Tom Caudill, Ronnie Ellis, Michael Collins and Monica Dias.
Joining Applewhite and Brewer in the 2022 class of the Journalism Hall of Fame:
- Melissa Forsythe, the first female reporter to work at two major television stations in Louisville, WAVE and WHAS. She died in February.
- John B. Gaines, who served as president and publisher of the Bowling Green Daily News, established by his father in 1882, for 60 years. He died in 2007.
- Bill Mardis, the former editor of The Commonwealth Journal in Somerset, who died in 2021.
- Mark Maynard, who reported and edited for The Daily Independent in Ashland for 45 years, and who is now the managing editor of Kentucky Today, a digital news source published by the Kentucky Baptist Convention.
- Stuart Warner, who shared in two Pulitzer Prizes and worked at the Lexington Herald-Leader, the Akron Beacon Journal, The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, America Online News, The Arizona Republic and the Phoenix New Times.
- Deborah Yetter, social services reporter for The Courier Journal, who shared in two Pulitzer Prizes — one for exposing former Gov. Matt Bevin’s pardons of criminals on his way out of office, and for The CJ’s coverage of the Carrolton bus crash in 1989.