Pamela Brown to Deliver 2015 Joe Creason Lecture in Journalism

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 19, 2015) — Pamela Brown, CNN justice correspondent, will deliver the 2015 Joe Creason Lecture in Journalism at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 16, in Room 118 of the White Hall Classroom Building on the University of Kentucky campus. The Creason Lecture is sponsored by the UK School of Journalism and Telecommunications and is free and open to the public.

Brown joined CNN in 2013. She covers crime and justice issues, including law enforcement and the Supreme Court. She has also reported on breaking news stories including the Boston marathon terrorist attacks, the Cleveland kidnappings and the Oklahoma tornadoes.

Before becoming justice correspondent, Brown was a national correspondent for CNN and contributed to the "New Day" program. She began her career at ABC 7/WJLA-TV and NewsChannel 8 in Washington, D.C. There, she was a Sunday evening anchor and an Emmy-nominated special projects reporter. While with WJLA, Brown was one of the few local journalists to travel to earthquake-ravaged Haiti in January 2010 and later returned on her own to report on the rebuilding process in Port-au-Prince and the surrounding areas.

Brown is also committed in the fight against human sex trafficking and has generated several reports on the widespread problem in the U.S. and abroad, and local police are now presenting her exclusive investigative reports at human trafficking conferences and schools to help educate students, teachers and the community on the crisis. Federal authorities also credit one of Brown's reports with leading to the arrest and conviction of a suspected child pornographer.

Brown is the daughter of former Kentucky governor John Y. Brown and Phyllis George Brown. Pamela Brown grew up in Lexington. She holds a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“2014-15 marks 100 years of journalism education at the University of Kentucky, and we’re delighted to welcome a Kentucky native home to deliver the Joe Creason Lecture,” said Beth Barnes, director of the School of Journalism and Telecommunications. “Pamela Brown’s outstanding work provides an excellent example for our journalism students. We’re looking forward to her time on campus.”

The Joe Creason Lecture Series brings an outstanding journalist to the university to meet and talk with students, and to speak before an assembly of students, faculty and the general public. The lecture series honors the memory of Joe Creason, a Kentuckian who wrote for The Courier-Journal and The Courier-Journal Sunday Magazine. The lecture series was made possible through a matching grant from the Bingham Enterprises Foundation of Kentucky and gifts donated by UK alumni and friends of Joe Creason.

Earlier on April 16, the 2015 inductees to the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame will be honored at a luncheon. Luncheon reservations may be made by contacting June Horn at 859-257-1730, or through a reservation form available at http://jat.uky.edu/ky-journalism-hall-of-fame.html.

MEDIA CONTACT: Sarah Geegan, (859) 257-5365; sarah.geegan@uky.edu