2026 James Madison Award honoree chosen
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 14, 2026) — The 2026 James Madison Award recipient for service to the First Amendment is Rufus Friday, executive director of the Center for Integrity in News Reporting. The School of Journalism and Media in the University of Kentucky College of Communication and Information and its Scripps Howard First Amendment Center present the award annually.
Friday also serves as chairman of the Stars and Stripes publisher’s national advisory board, where he has emerged as a leading voice in defending the First Amendment and press freedom nationwide. Prior to this role, as president and publisher of the Lexington Herald-Leader, Friday was “a consistent and unwavering supporter of the newsroom’s independence, including at times when doing so meant taking serious political heat himself,” according to his nomination by Peter Baniak, the inaugural Al Cross Faculty Fellow and Visiting Professional in Public Affairs Journalism in the UK School of Journalism and Media. “He understood that a publisher’s responsibility is not to protect a newspaper from criticism, but to protect its journalists’ ability to report independently, fairly and honestly.”
Friday was publisher of the Herald-Leader in 2016 when that newspaper and the Courier-Journal in Louisville successfully fought a lengthy legal battle with the state of Kentucky that led to the public release of files about children who had died or suffered serious injuries as a result of abuse or neglect. In addition to paying the newspapers’ legal fees, the state paid a $250,000 penalty for violating the state’s open records laws.
Rufus also publicly raised an alarm earlier this year. In a widely published January/February 2026 op-ed, he warned against efforts to “turn Stars and Stripes into a vehicle for official messaging rather than an independent news organization.” He pointed to the five values displayed on the newspaper’s newsroom wall — “Credibility. Impartiality. Truth-telling. Balanced. Accountable.” — and explained why they matter particularly to a newspaper serving American military personnel.
Prior to his current role, Friday was the president and publisher of the Lexington Herald-Leader from 2011 to 2018 and of the Tri-City Herald in Washington state from 2005 to 2011. He served as special assistant to the president and chief advocacy communication strategist at the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) from 2019 to 2021, and as executive director of the Hope Center in Lexington from 2021 to 2023. He started his career in news media by working in circulation at the Raleigh News & Observer in 1984, followed by executive leadership roles at newspapers in Montgomery, Alabama; Rockford, Illinois; and Jackson, Tennessee.
Friday earned a B.A. in business management and economics from North Carolina State University, where he played football. In 2015, in recognition of his leadership and community contributions, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of the Cumberlands. Friday and his wife, Melody, have a daughter, Chanel Friday Carrington, who is a 2016 graduate of the UK College of Communication and Information.
The James Madison Award is scheduled to be presented after the Scripps Howard State of the First Amendment Address. Jay Nolan, chairman and CEO of Nolan Group Media and J Frank Publishing Inc. and the 2025 Award winner, will deliver the address at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, in Pence Hall’s Wrigley Auditorium (Room 250) on the UK campus. A light reception will start at 5:15 p.m. Details of the event are available at 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 healthcare. 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 $1.02 billion research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.