Campus News

President of AP to Deliver Creason Lecture

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 7, 2010) - Tom Curley, president and CEO of the Associated Press (AP), will deliver the 33rd annual University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Telecommunications's Joe Creason Lecture at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 8, in Room 118 of the White Hall Classroom Building on UK's campus. The lecture, titled "The Story Behind the Story of the Afghan War," is free and open to the public.

Curley was named the 12th president and chief executive officer of the Associated Press on June 1, 2003. He previously was president and publisher of USA Today, the nation's largest-selling daily newspaper. From 1998 he also served as senior vice president of the newspaper's owner, Gannett Co., Inc., publisher of 100 daily newspapers in the United States. Under Curley's leadership, USA Today's circulation grew to more than 2.3 million copies a day.

Under his leadership at the AP, the publication has moved rapidly to capture the growing audience for digital and video news and assuring AP's relevance in the rapidly changing media world. Curley also has deepened AP's longstanding commitment to the people's right to know and serves as one of the nation's most aggressive advocates for open government.

As part of his strategy for the digital age, Curley has charted an international plan to drive content and new business. A first milestone was the creation of a multimedia database that allows all AP content to be searched by AP journalists and customers alike. AP has added content for finance, online video and entertainment audiences.

Curley has also established programs to encourage and celebrate exceptional journalism. AP became the first western news agency to open a bureau in Pyongang, North Korea, and added staff in Latin American, Asia and the Middle East, including Iraq where AP has more than 100 journalists. Among recognition during Curley's tenure are the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography, awarded to AP for its work in Iraq, and the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography, awarded to AP for a West Bank photo.

In 2006, Curley was inducted into the National Freedom of Information Act Hall of Fame, and the National Press Club presented Curley with its John Aubuchon Freedom of the Press Award for extraordinary efforts to raise awareness and strengthen support for freedom of information issues.

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 kicks off the conference "Covering Conflicts in a Modern World" that explores topics of war, history and journalism through a series of speakers, panels and films. For more information on the conference, visit warconference.uky.edu.

The Creason 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.