Kentucky Press Association provides specific services for their Members
Membership Qualifications
The Kentucky Press Association has four membership opportunities.
Newspapers with a periodicals class mailing permit are eligible to be a full member of KPA.
Newspapers without a periodicals class mailing permit but with at least 25 percent news content are eligible to be an Associate Member Newspaper of KPA.
Annual membership dues for full and Associate Member Newspapers are both based on the cost of 94.5 inches of advertising in the publication.
Our newest membership division is Online Publications, open to news websites in Kentucky that meet eligibility criteria. For that criteria, click here.
The KPA Associates Division is a very active, very important part of KPA. This membership division is available to companies and organizations that have established relationships with newspapers including advertising agencies, newspaper vendors and suppliers, state government agencies and other associations based in Kentucky. Individuals may also join as a KPA Associate member.
Annual membership dues for KPA Associates Divisions and Online Publications are $450 per calendar year.
FOI Hotline
When you have a question about open meetings/open records, potentially libelous materials, problems with wording in an ad, court closures — just about anything affecting your editorial or advertising department, help is one phone call away. The KPA FOI Hotline puts you in touch with some of the state’s top media attorneys — Jon Fleischaker, Michael Abate, Casey Hinkle and Heather Harrell, all with Kaplan and Partners LLC in Louisville.
The FOI Hotline number is (502) 416-1630. Give them a call, identify yourself and your newspaper, and ask your questions. And 99 percent of the time, you’ll get your answer with that first phone call. Jon and Michael will also do a pre-publication review of a news story if you’re concerned it contains libelous material.
Cost: This is a member service and the basic fees are paid for by KPA. The only cost is for the long-distance telephone call to Kaplan and Partners in Louisville.
Legislative Lobbying
The main reason the Kentucky Press Association is in Frankfort is that it’s the headquarters of state government in Kentucky. KPA has designated itself a watchdog on issues concerning the newspaper industry, particularly during the Regular and Special Sessions of the Kentucky General Assembly.
Of primary importance are issues related to Open Meetings, Open Records, Public Notice Advertising, and environmental issues affecting the newspaper industry.
During each Regular Session, KPA member newspapers are kept aware of the latest legislative news with a weekly KPA Legislative Bulletin. The bulletin is sent to publishers, editors, and advertising managers, giving a synopsis of each legislative bill of interest and stating the position taken on the measure, if any, by KPA.
Positions on various legislative concerns are taken by KPA only after discussing the issue with the KPA Legislative Committee and the KPA Board of Directors.
Two KPA representatives are registered lobbyists during all General Assembly sessions.
Periodically, member newspapers are asked for help in supporting or defeating a particular piece of information by getting in touch with their local legislators.
The Kentucky Press Association also publishes “Kentucky Laws Affecting Newspapers.” This publication is designed to keep newspaper staff aware of all laws involving the newspaper industry and is published every other year, following the Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly. All state laws and regulations are also available by contacting the KPA Central Office.
School of Journalism Foundation of Kentucky
Beginning in 1993, the School of Journalism Foundation of Kentucky began an innovative internship program for college and university students. With a belief that students needed hands-on experience during their college years as an impetus for a career in the newspaper industry, the foundation restructured its long-standing schoalrship program. In its place, the foundation began offering 10-week summer internships to college and university students.
Giving college journalism students experience in print journalism while providing a service to member newspapers is the purpose of the School of Journalism Foundation of Kentucky, Inc., internship program.
The foundation awards up to 20 internships each summer with Kentucky newspapers in editorial, advertising, photography and online journalists. Each internship is worth $3,000 and is paid from the foundation to the newspaper and in turn that amount is paid to the the newspaper’s intern for summer employment.
Applications for students and for Host Newspapers are made available each September. Host Newspapers are selected by the Kentucky Press Association Past Presidents and all student intern applications are then shared among Host Newspapers, who are responsible for interviewing the students and then selecting the newspaper’s intern.
Any college student who has completed his/her freshman year is eligible to apply for a School of Journalism Foundation of Kentucky, Inc., internship. Students do not have to be a journalism or communications major to be considered for the program.
College journalism students and Kentucky Press Association member newspapers wanting more information about the internship program should contact the School of Journalism Foundation of Kentucky, Inc., which is based at the Kentucky Press Association central office in Frankfort.
Download the application here →
