The Kentucky Kernel
Encyclopedia
The Kentucky Kernel is the daily student newspaper
of the University of Kentucky
.
The Kernel is distributed free on and around the University of Kentucky campus. It claims a circulation of 17,000 and readership of more than 30,000. Its sole source of revenue is advertising
. It is issued during the weekdays during the spring and fall semesters and weekly during the summer term, roughly 150 days in the calendar year. It is one of the largest-circulating newspapers in Kentucky.
The paper had become an eight-page weekly by 1923, and it became a Monday-Friday daily newspaper in 1966.
In 1972, the Kernel formally established its editorial and financial independence from the University of Kentucky administration.
Several prominent journalists worked at the Kernel while they were students, including current Associated Press
Chief White House Correspondent
Terence Hunt, former National Geographic photographer Sam Abell, current Chicago Tribune
Washington correspondent William Neikirk and current New York Times South Africa
correspondent Michael Wines.
The writer Bobbie Ann Mason
also worked at the Kernel. The famous Disney
writer and illustrator
Don Rosa
worked for the Kernel from 1969 to 1973. The Pertwillaby Papers
were first printed in the Kernel, which inspired many of Rosa's later creations, including the Scrooge McDuck
tales The Son of the Sun
, Cash Flow
, and The Last Lord of Eldorado.
being auctioned off to fraternities and sororities
in an attempt by the cartoonist to depict racial divide in the fraternity system. The paper officially apologized the next day and the incident spawned a panel discussion on diversity.
from the Associated Collegiate Press
after having been nominated for several years. http://www.studentpress.org/acp/winners/npm06.html http://studentpress.org/acp/winners/npm08.html
Student newspaper
A student newspaper is a newspaper run by students of a university, high school, middle school, or other school. These papers traditionally cover local and, primarily, school or university news....
of the University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
.
The Kernel is distributed free on and around the University of Kentucky campus. It claims a circulation of 17,000 and readership of more than 30,000. Its sole source of revenue is advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
. It is issued during the weekdays during the spring and fall semesters and weekly during the summer term, roughly 150 days in the calendar year. It is one of the largest-circulating newspapers in Kentucky.
History
The Kentucky Kernel was preceded by several student newspapers, with the earliest dating to 1892. From 1908 to 1915, the University of Kentucky's student newspaper was called The Idea, but it became the Kentucky Kernel following a naming contest in 1915. The first issue produced under the Kernel name was published September 16, 1915.The paper had become an eight-page weekly by 1923, and it became a Monday-Friday daily newspaper in 1966.
In 1972, the Kernel formally established its editorial and financial independence from the University of Kentucky administration.
Operations and alumni
The Kernel operates out of the Grehan Journalism Building, which is located in central campus and also is the home of the School of Journalism and Telecommunications and the Department of Communication. The Grehan Building was completed in 1951 and named to honor Enoch Grehan, the founder of the school's Department of Journalism and one of its first faculty members.Several prominent journalists worked at the Kernel while they were students, including current Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
Chief White House Correspondent
White House Correspondents' Association
The White House Correspondents' Association is an organization of journalists who cover the White House and the President of the United States. The WHCA was founded in 1914 by journalists in response to an unfounded rumor that a Congressional committee would select which journalists could attend...
Terence Hunt, former National Geographic photographer Sam Abell, current Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
Washington correspondent William Neikirk and current New York Times South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
correspondent Michael Wines.
The writer Bobbie Ann Mason
Bobbie Ann Mason
Bobbie Ann Mason is an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and literary critic from Kentucky.With four siblings Mason grew up on her family's dairy farm outside of Mayfield, Kentucky. As a child she loved to read, so her parents, Wilburn and Christina Mason, always made sure she had...
also worked at the Kernel. The famous Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
writer and illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
Don Rosa
Don Rosa
Keno Don Hugo Rosa, known simply as Don Rosa, is an American comic book writer and illustrator known for his stories about Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck and other characters created by Carl Barks for Disney comics, such as The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck.-Early life:Don Rosa's grandfather,...
worked for the Kernel from 1969 to 1973. The Pertwillaby Papers
The Pertwillaby Papers
The Pertwillaby Papers is an adventure comic drawn by the famous Donald Duck artist Don Rosa in the 1970s. The comic is about the adventures of Lancelot "Lance" Pertwillaby and his friends and colleagues around the world....
were first printed in the Kernel, which inspired many of Rosa's later creations, including the Scrooge McDuck
Scrooge McDuck
Scrooge McDuck is a cartoon character created in 1947 by Carl Barks and licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Scrooge is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a red or blue frock coat, top hat, pince-nez glasses, and spats...
tales The Son of the Sun
The Son of the Sun
The Son of the Sun is the first Scrooge McDuck comic by Don Rosa, first published in 1986. It is a well-known comic book story that features Disney's Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck, and Huey, Dewey, and Louie, most notable for establishing Don Rosa as a major talent in the Disney comic book industry,...
, Cash Flow
Cash Flow (comics)
Cash Flow is an Uncle Scrooge-adventure comic written and drawn by Don Rosa from 1987 and first of his stories where the Beagle Boys appeared. Like some others comic stories by Don Rosa that story is founded in toying with laws of nature...
, and The Last Lord of Eldorado.
Controversies
On October 5, 2007, the newspaper published an editorial cartoon that was considered racially insensitive to some students. The cartoon depicted an African AmericanAfrican American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
being auctioned off to fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
in an attempt by the cartoonist to depict racial divide in the fraternity system. The paper officially apologized the next day and the incident spawned a panel discussion on diversity.
Awards
In 2006 and 2008, the Kernel won the National Pacemaker AwardNational Pacemaker Awards
The National Pacemaker Awards are awards for excellence in American student journalism, given annually since 1927. The awards are generally considered to be the highest national honors in their field, and are unofficially known as the "Pulitzer Prizes of student journalism."The National Scholastic...
from the Associated Collegiate Press
Associated Collegiate Press
The Associated Collegiate Press is the largest and oldest national membership organization for college student media in the United States. The ACP is a division of the National Scholastic Press Association...
after having been nominated for several years. http://www.studentpress.org/acp/winners/npm06.html http://studentpress.org/acp/winners/npm08.html