For the second straight year, the Herald-Leader is Kentucky’s best metro-sized newspaper in the commonwealth.
The Herald-Leader and its digital site, kentucky.com, took home 36 awards at the 2024 Kentucky Press Association Convention on Jan. 26, including first place in general excellence and sweeps of six categories across news, sports, photography and multimedia journalism.
The Herald-Leader, based in Lexington, won top honors over The Courier Journal in Louisville (second place) and the Bowling Green Daily News (third).
Judges acknowledged the quality of stories and multimedia storytelling that spanned across Lexington and the eastern and central regions of Kentucky, including:
- An investigation by watchdog reporter John Cheves on despicable conditions in Louisville nursing homes.
- Reporting by Valarie Honeycutt Spears and Beth Musgrave about the lack of laws protecting students and preventing teacher sex abuse.
- Feature stories and breaking news coverage during every sports season from reporters Ben Roberts, Cameron Drummond and Caroline Makauskas, as well as columnists Mark Story and John Clay.