UK Happenings

Society of Professional Journalists Chapters Holding Forum on Privacy, Transparency, Accountability Journalism

This forum has been postponed due to scheduling conflicts and will be rescheduled for a later date. 

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 11, 2016) The Kentucky Kernel’s reporting on the University of Kentucky’s handling of a sexual assault case against a professor has raised important questions about privacy for victims, transparency of a public university, and the role of accountability journalism in a democratic society. These issues will be explored in a public forum at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13, in the UK Athletics Auditorium of the William T. Young Library at UK.

The panelists will be Kernel Editor Marjorie Kirk, a UK journalism student; Thomas Miller, the newspaper’s lawyer; Jay Blanton, chief spokesman for the university and a former Kernel editor; and Ashley Rouster, coordinator and survivor advocate from the Violence Intervention and Prevention Center at UK. The moderator will be John Nelson, retired executive editor of the former Danville-based Advocate Communications.

The program is sponsored by the UK campus chapter and the Bluegrass professional chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). It is free and open to the public, and a Q&A session will follow the panel discussion.

SPJ, founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, promotes the free flow of information vital to a well-informed citizenry; works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists; and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press. For more information about SPJ, visit http://spj.org

UK is the University for Kentucky. At UK, we are educating more students, treating more patients with complex illnesses and conducting more research and service than at any time in our 150-year history. To read more about the UK story and how you can support continued investment in your university and the Commonwealth, visit uky.edu/uk4ky. #uk4ky #seeblue

MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Harder, 859-323-2396, whitney.harder@uky.edu