The staff of the Kentucky Kernel won the General Excellence award among 47 others at the 2024 Kentucky Press Association (KPA) Winter convention. KPA recognized the work of news outlets across the state in a multitude of categories on Jan. 26, the second day of the two-day convention hosted in Bowling Green. The Kernel was.
This past school year, the staff of 2020-2021, along with a few of the newer 2021-2022 staff, were finally rewarded for their efforts in the form of around 80 awards.
Bryan Greene, 25, and Lakell Gates, 11, play basketball on the court in Duncan Park in Lexington, Kentucky, on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020. Photo by Arden Barnes, courtesy of Kentucky Kernel.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 16, 2021) May 2020 journalism graduate and former Kentucky Kernel editor-in-chief Bailey Vandiver placed fourth in the Explanatory Reporting Competition of the 2020-2021 Hearst Foundation’s Journalism Awards Program. In addition to being recognized among top journalists in the nation, Vandiver has received a $1,000 scholarship.
Vandiver’s story, titled “Lexington’s East End: A changing neighborhood,” encompasses the lives of the citizens of Lexington’s East End and how they envision the future of their home. Vandiver specifically wanted to collect the stories from the historically Black neighborhood to open a discussion on the effects of revitalization and gentrification to the neighborhood.