Professional News

5 to be inducted into Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame April 8

2024 Inductees pictured left to right: Sheldon Shafer (represented by two of his former coworkers), Betty Winston Bayé, Deborah Taylor Givens, Paul Prather and Peter Baniak. Not pictured: Elizabeth “Scoobie” Ryan, Kyle Vance.
2024 Inductees pictured, from left, Sheldon Shafer (represented by two of his former coworkers), Betty Winston Bayé, Deborah Taylor Givens, Paul Prather and Peter Baniak. Not pictured: Elizabeth “Scoobie” Ryan, Kyle Vance. Photo by Reese Durham.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 17, 2025) — An award-winning photographer, Kentucky’s leading TV news journalist, a longtime broadcast sports journalist and two print journalists who covered some of the biggest stories of the last four decades make up the 2025 class of the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame.

This year’s five inductees are:

• Dick Gabriel, a broadcast sports journalist whose distinguished career has included 40 years as a reporter, host and announcer with the University of Kentucky Television/Radio Network;

• Ron Garrison, an award-winning photographer and former photo director and visuals editor at the Lexington Herald-Leader;

• Jamie Lucke, current editor-in-chief of Kentucky Lantern and former reporter and editorial writer at the Lexington Herald-Leader who has been called a “voice for Eastern Kentucky”;

• Stephen J. Ford, whose more than four decades as a reporter, editor and editorial writer helped preserve, adapt and rejuvenate the public service mission of The Courier Journal, Kentucky’s leading source of news; and

• Renee Shaw, the director of public affairs and moderator at Kentucky Educational Television (KET) who serves as host of some of the Commonwealth’s most consequential news programs — the network’s weeknight public affairs program, “Kentucky Edition,” the public policy discussion series “Kentucky Tonight,” and the weekly interview series “Connections.”

The 2025 induction ceremony is 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 8, at UK’s Gatton Student Center. Seating for the event is limited. Previous inductees of the Hall of Fame, members of the press, the UK community and public may RSVP by 4 p.m. Friday, March 28, by calling the UK School of Journalism and Media at 859-257-3904 or emailing Mary Ann Williamson at mawill3@email.uky.edu.

Created by the University of Kentucky Journalism Alumni Association, the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame honors achieving journalists who are Kentucky natives or have spent most of their careers working for Kentucky media organizations. More than 225 individuals, both with and without formal ties to UK, have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. For more information about the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame visit ci.uky.edu/jam/about/kentucky-journalism-hall-fame.

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.