Ever since Terry Forcht and Don Estep partnered together to launch this publication nearly 40 years ago, the goal has always been for coverage to remain hyper-local. Many talented individuals have helped carry that vision on over the years, all of them from right here in our local community.
This past week, our paper was recognized with a first place finish at the 2025 Kentucky Press Association Excellence in Newspapers Awards banquet. It was the ninth time in the past decade that we have received the recognition, which is a testament to the hard work of everyone who has been on staff in that amount of time.
Whether it be news and/or sports reporting, feature writing, editorializing, page design, advertising sales, maintaining our classified listings, posting obituaries, updating our website and social media accounts, or one of the many interoffice duties that must be handled each day in order to make sure things continue to roll on… every piece of the puzzle is important.
The News Journal has always benefitted from having local people handling the duties listed above. You don’t always get that these days, with many newspapers being run by people who are sitting in offices located hundreds, or even thousands, of miles away from the communities that they are supposed to be serving. We have been lucky here to always be based locally, with members of this community answering the phones, writing the stories, selling the ads, etc.
The tagline “We’re all about where you live” is not just something that we say. We have always meant it, and will continue to mean it as time goes on.
As for this latest KPA award, a big thank you to everyone who has been on staff this past year for their efforts. That includes Office Manager Linda Carpenter, Circulation Manager Jennifer Benfield, Advertising Manager Melissa Hudson, Managing News Editor Mark White, and reporters Timothy Wyatt and Leeann Fragosa. Thanks as well to Andy Welsh, who has done a great job delivering our papers and Homes Guide magazines since last fall.
Of course, thank you again to Mr. Forcht and Mr. Estep, as well as so many others within the Forcht Group of Kentucky, all of whom have provided the support to make our continued success possible.
Finally, and most importantly, thank you to our readers. Whether you pick up a copy of the News Journal from a coin box or local store, access it online, or if you are among those who receive a paper in your mailbox each week, we do what we do for you. We appreciate you, and we hope that you’ll continue to look to this publication as your primary source of information about important happenings in your local community.
