Advocate-Messenger Editor Wins James Madison Award

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 9, 2010) − The James Madison Award for Service to the First Amendment will be awarded to a Central Kentucky newspaper editor who has a long record of fighting for open government in the commonwealth.

John A. Nelson, managing editor of the Advocate-Messenger in Danville and executive editor of Advocate Communications Inc., will be honored at the University of Kentucky’s annual First Amendment Celebration on Sept. 20 in the William T. Young Library auditorium.

“The judges chose Nelson because of his strong record of fighting for open government,” said journalism professor Mike Farrell, director of the Scripps Howard First Amendment Center, which presents the Madison Award. “John has worked tirelessly to open government to public inspection at the city level and at the state level. He has blazed the trail in a number of important areas.”

As president of the Kentucky Press Association, Nelson led the state’s first open records audit. Some 300 volunteers, including a number of UK journalism students, sought public records from four agencies in all 120 Kentucky counties. The results showed less-than-stellar compliance around the state. Newspapers reported the results, explaining to readers not only the outcome but also the importance of open government.

“Few people in Kentucky are as adamant about open government,” wrote David Thompson, executive director of the press association, in nominating Nelson. “If more had the drive that John Nelson has exhibited during his journalism career, there would be a demand from every corner of the state that all public agencies operate in ‘sunshine’ and make the agency’s business truly the public’s business.”

Nelson also was instrumental in the formation in 1996 of a KPA legal defense fund that assists Kentucky newspapers in efforts to ensure open government. He has served as a member of the committee that oversees the fund since its inception.

He also has played a key role in trying to force more openness in Kentucky courtrooms. He led the way in a lawsuit filed to force Kentucky to open its juvenile and family court proceedings to the public and the press. He has argued that closed courtrooms prohibit the public from monitoring the decisions of judges, prosecutors and state agencies.

“He has been an invaluable spokesperson and partner in that effort, which will eventually succeed,” media attorney Jon Fleischaker said. “He has not backed down in the face of challenges from political and judicial officials, and we are all better off as a result.”

“The judges recognized in John Nelson a journalist who has spent his career advocating government open to the public and the press and challenging those who think government officials are entitled to keep secrets from the public,” said Beth Barnes, director of the UK School of Journalism and Telecommunications.

Nelson earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Eastern Kentucky University. He serves on the advisory boards of both the Department of Mass Communications and the Eastern Progress, the student newspaper. In addition to his tenure as president of the Kentucky Press Association, he served two terms as president of the Bluegrass Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists in 2006-07.

He was the editor of two weeklies — The Citizen Voice & Times in Irvine and Pulaski Week in Somerset — before joining The Advocate in 1997. Today he also provides support for Schurz Communications newspapers in Nicholasville, Stanford and Winchester.

The Madison Award was created by the Scripps Howard First Amendment Center, housed in the UK School of Journalism and Telecommunications, in 2006 and is awarded annually to a Kentuckian who has made significant contributions to the efforts of a free press or freedom of speech. The recipients have been former Kentucky Post editor Judith G. Clabes, who founded the First Amendment Center; Jon Fleischaker, a Louisville attorney who has been a leading voice and advocate for open government; Tom Loftus, veteran reporter of the Courier-Journal who has used open records to hold public officials accountable for their actions and policies; and David Hawpe, retired editor and reporter for the Courier-Journal who championed openness during his career.

The Madison Award will be presented at 6 p.m. Sept. 20. Terry Anderson, UK visiting journalism instructor and former Middle East correspondent for the Associated Press, will then deliver the State of the First Amendment address. The event is free and open to the public.