2025 James Madison Award honoree chosen
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 6, 2025) — The 2025 James Madison Award recipient for service to the First Amendment is James F. (Jay) Nolan III, chairman and CEO of Nolan Group Media and J. Frank Publishing Inc. The University of Kentucky Kathryn MontalbanoSchool of Journalism and Media and its Scripps Howard First Amendment Center present the award annually.
Nolan, a native Kentuckian, serves as volunteer co-chair of the Kentucky Press Association’s Government Affairs Committee. He has led the charge to promote “strong open meetings and open records laws that protect the public’s right to know about operations of their government at every level,” according to his nomination by Tom Caudill, the retired managing editor of the Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com.
“After the Kentucky House of Representatives in 2025 passed a bill that would severely limit public notices of government meetings and activities, Jay successfully mobilized and led strong opposition to the bill. The Senate did not even take a vote on the bill, thus keeping public notices readily available to the public,” Caudill said.
He also noted that Nolan and his family received recognition from the Kentucky Senate in March as the family celebrated 100 years in the newspaper industry.
Nolan is now committed to working with the Kentucky League of Cities and other groups to try to find common ground for new legislation that would be supported by both the KLC and KPA. The goal is to draft a bill updating public notice requirements using today’s technological capabilities, making them easily accessible to as many people as possible.
Nolan’s commitment to the First Amendment in Kentucky is longstanding, preceding his work to defeat this 2025 bill.
“As KPA president in 2019, Jay launched a campaign to promote, in print and online, an educational series about the First Amendment — what it says, why it matters and how it impacts Kentuckians today. He actively campaigned to protect public notices, helping to keep notices in public newspapers in 112 of Kentucky’s 120 counties,” Caudill recounted.
In addition to his statewide efforts as KPA board member and president, Nolan has worked for decades at the local and regional levels to protect and support public notices, open meetings and open records. He has been a champion of these First Amendment causes in the individual communities where he has served as newspaper publisher and across Eastern Kentucky as CEO of a nine-newspaper group. His JFP printing plant in London prints 20 Kentucky newspapers.
“Since 1990, Jay has devoted his career to providing reliable, accurate local news and information — speaking truth to power and promoting open, transparent government at the city and county level,” Caudill said.
Nolan earned a master’s degree in business administration from Pepperdine University in 1990 and bachelor’s degree in communication (with distinction) from the University of Kentucky in 1982. He and his wife, Claudia, reside near London, Kentucky.
The James Madison Award will be presented after the Scripps Howard State of the First Amendment address. Scott Horn, co-director of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition and the 2024 James Madison Award winner, will deliver the address 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21, in the Grand Courtroom of the UK J. David Rosenberg College of Law. The full event will run from 5-7 p.m. Details of the event are posted at https://ci.uky.edu/jam/state-first-amendment-address.
The James Madison Award is presented annually by the School of Journalism and Media in the College of Communication and Information to honor those who have made outstanding contributions to First Amendment rights. The award was created in 2006 and honors the nation’s fourth president, whose extraordinary efforts led to the ratification of the Bill of Rights. Awardees must have significant ties to Kentucky, and their efforts must have resulted in the preservation or expansion of freedom of the press and/or freedom of speech. The James Madison Award recognizes a long-term commitment to these ideals.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.