TIMELINE

The two remaining dailies were the statewide morning paper, The Courier-Journal, and its sister publication, the afternoon Louisville Times. However, at mid-century a city magazine starts up, Louisville’s first public radio station comes under the operation of the Louisville Free Public Library, and AM radio news quickly rises in popularity, riding the wave of rock and roll music.

A radio leader all through the years was WHAS-AM, which had gone on the air in the 1920s. Two other radio stations strongly committed to news were WAKY-AM and WAVE-AM.

Television stations were coming on the air and developing rudimentary news operations. WAVE-TV had started broadcasting Nov. 24, 1948, becoming the first television station in Kentucky and the 41st in the nation. In 1949 WAVE was the first television station to broadcast the Kentucky Derby live.

WHAS-TV signed on in March of 1950 on Channel 9 and soon began offering viewers a half hour of news, weather and sports. United Press and Associated Press bureaus competed fiercely, especially after UP’s merger in 1958 with International News Service. UPI faded in the 1980s and eventually closed its Louisville bureau.

The Courier-Journal had been first published on Nov. 8, 1868 and thus predated all major publications included in the chapter’s coverage area. Early chapter membership lists revealed a large number of print journalists involved in the chapter, many from the two daily newspapers. The first president, Ed Easterly, was Kentucky bureau chief for The Associated Press. AP had celebrated the 50th anniversary of the bureau’s opening just three years prior.

There were members from Kentucky daily newspapers all over the state in the early days of the chapter including the Paducah Sun-Democrat, the Park City Daily News at Bowling Green, the State-Journal at Frankfort and the Danville Advocate-Messenger, among others.

Editors and reporters from weekly publications including the Meade County Messenger, the Voice Newspapers of Louisville, church publications, and others found the chapter to be a source of professional support. Other members included many former journalists who had become freelance authors, lawyers, journalism educators, magazine writers, public relations professionals, publicists and spokespersons for government and industry.

Other publications represented included: the News-Enterprise at Elizabethtown, The Oldham Era. The Shelbyville Sentinel-News and community newspapers in Corydon, Jeffersonville and New Albany in southern Indiana. An early magazine entry was Louisville Magazine, which was first published in March of 1950. Then as now SDX/SPJ represented the largest single collection of people from all branches of journalism and public relations.

In more recent times, new nameplates of publications began showing up, including Business First, the Louisville Eccentric Observer (LEO), Louisville Magazine, Kentucky Magazine, Southeast Christian Church’s Outlook and many others. Here is a look at selected important dates in Louisville area journalism beginning with the founding of the Louisville professional chapter of Sigma Delta Chi.

1953 – SDX CHAPTER FOUNDED IN LOUISVILLE. Thirty members start up new professional chapter of national organization.

THE JEFFERSON REPORTER BEGINS PUBLISHING. Richard Conn develops first newspaper in Kentucky said to change from letterpress to offset printing.

WAVE-TV CHANGES CHANNEL POSITION. Kentucky’s first station moves from Channel 5 to Channel 3.

1954 – PUBLIC RADIO STATION WFPK-FM GOES ON THE AIR. In 1950, the first public station in Louisville, WFPL-FM, had begun broadcasting.

1956 – THE LOUISVILLE TIMES WINS PULITZER. It goes to Robert York for his editorial cartoon “Achilles,” showing a bulging figure of American prosperity tapering to a weak heel labeled “Farm Prices.”

1967 – COURIER-JOURNAL AWARDED PULITZER. Receives meritorious public service award for battle for stronger strip-mining controls.

FIRST U.S. NEWSPAPER OMBUDSMAN APPOINTED. Publisher Barry Bingham Sr. and executive editor Norman Isaacs appoint John Herchenroeder as ombudsman.

1968 – COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER, Inc. GROUP FOUNDED. Eight newspapers band together in a publishing cooperative based in Shelbyville.

1969 – PULITZER AWARDED TO COURIER’S JOHN FETTERMAN. Prize is for his magazine story on the return for burial of a Kentucky soldier killed in Vietnam.

SDX MEMBERSHIP OPENED TO WOMEN. At the November national convention, SDX bylaws are changed at a meeting in San Diego admitting women for the first time in the Society’s 60-year history.

1971 – WDRB-TV GOES ON THE AIR. As an independent TV station, WDRB broadcasts on Channel 41.

1972 – BINGHAM EMPLOYEES WIN NATIONAL SDX/SPJ AWARDS. Hugh Haynie wins for his political cartooning in The Courier-Journal and Bob Schulman for television editorial on co-owned WHAS-TV.

1973 – LANDMARK PURCHASES COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS. Landmark Communications of Norfolk, Va. purchases Shelbyville group and sets up headquarters there. Later grows to 51 paid newspapers in 12 states, including 19 in Kentucky and three in Indiana.

1974 – WOMAN NAMED COURIER’S MANAGING EDITOR. Carol Sutton becomes first woman managing editor of a major American newspaper.

WHAS’S DICK GILBERT FOLLOWS TORNADO. WHAS-AM covers the April tornado and Gilbert gives listeners a live description of the twister as he pilots Skywatch 84 across the city right behind the storm.

NATION’S FIRST FULLTIME JOURNALISM REVIEW COLUMN DEBUTS. Bob Schulman is appointed by Courier-Journal publisher Barry Bingham Jr.

1976 – COURIER PHOTO STAFF EARNS PULITZER. It is for coverage of court-ordered school busing in Louisville and Jefferson County.

KENTUCKY BUSINESS LEDGER LAUNCHES. It was a statewide monthly newspaper of business and finance.

1976 – WUOL-FM BEGINS BROADCASTING FROM UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE. The university campus station joins two other noncommercial, public stations in Louisville.

1978 – PULITZER TO COURIER’S RICHARD WHITT. For his coverage of the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire in Southgate, Ky.

1980 – BRINKLEY-MATHER TEAM WINS PULITZER. Reporter Joel Brinkley and photographer Jay Mather win Pulitzer for international reporting for The Courier-Journal.

METRO LOUISVILLE JOURNALISM AWARDS DEBUT. Chapter president Diane Kimbel Belanger ramrods start of chapter’s annual news contest, to “renew chapter’s sense of purpose.”

1984 – WEEKLY BUSINESS TABLOID DEBUTS. Aug. 13 sees inaugural edition of Business First, a weekly newspaper devoted to business, with Mike Kallay as publisher.

1985 – WHAS-AM AWARDED PEABODY. Station wins its second Peabody Award — its first since 1945, which was a special citation.

WHAS’S BOB LAUDER WINS ECLIPSE AWARD. Lauder wins award for outstanding reporting to be followed by similar awards in 1987 for WHAS and then in 1988 and 1989 for reporting at WAVG radio. In all, Lauder wins five Eclipse Awards – more than any other person.

1986 – LOUISVILLE DAILIES SOLD TO GANNETT CO. Gannett chairman declares Courier-Journal to be “the jewel” among the company’s then 90-plus newspapers.

WHAS-AM GAINS ANOTHER PEABODY. For news excellence, WHAS garners its third Peabody and second in two years.

1987 – LOUISVILLE TIMES PUBLISHES FINAL EDITION. The city’s longtime afternoon daily ceases publication Feb. 14.

1988 – WHAS GETS YET ANOTHER PEABODY. Station’s news department gains fourth Peabody, last three coming in four-year period, under news department leadership of Brian Rublein.

1989 – BUS CRASH COVERAGE EARNS PULITZER FOR COURIER STAFF. The entire news staff is honored for its general news reporting on the Carrollton, Ky., church-bus crash May 14, 1988 in which 27 people died.

NINE DEAD IN STANDARD-GRAVURE SHOOTING. On Sept. 14, Joseph Wesbecker, an out-of-work pressman, walks into the printing plant of his former employer, adjacent to The Courier-Journal, and blasts away with an AK-47. Twelve people are wounded and nine dead — including Wesbecker, from a self-inflicted pistol shot.

1990 – WDRB-TV LAUNCHES 10 O’CLOCK NEWS. Louisvillians now have a choice of newscast time when station begins a 10 p.m. newscast as an alternative to the standard 11 o’clock news. Station is affiliated with Fox Television.

JOHN ASHER WINS ECLIPSE AWARD. Asher, working for WHAS radio, wins his first Eclipse Award this year and then repeats in 1992 and 1994.

ALTERNATIVE WEEKLY HITS THE STREETS. In November, the Louisville Eccentric Observer (commonly known as LEO) hits the streets with an emphasis on music coverage and other subjects of interest to a so-called alternative audience.

1993 – COURIER-JOURNAL CELEBRATES 125 YEARS. Newspaper publishes special anniversary issue on Sept. 19 in recognition of its 125th anniversary.

LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE HAS NEW OWNER. Owned since its inception in 1950 by the Louisville Chamber of Commerce, publication is sold to Louisville Magazine Inc., a corporation solely owned by resident Dan Crutcher.

THREE PUBLIC RADIO STATIONS COME TOGETHER. The Public Radio Partnership is born, unifying all production and administrative functions of the city’s three public FM stations – WFPL, WFPK and WUOL.

1995 – SOUTHEAST OUTLOOK LAUNCHES. In September, the inaugural issue of Southeast Christian Church’s weekly newspaper, The Southeast Outlook, is published.

1998 – WHAS-AM WINS YET ANOTHER PEABODY. Its fifth Peabody Award is granted for news department’s broadcast excellence.

2000 – PUBLIC RADIO PARTNERSHIP GETS NEW QUARTERS. The Partnership moves into historic Electric Building in downtown Louisville.

KENTUCKY AP BUREAU CELEBRATES 100TH ANNIVERSARY. The bureau always has been located in the several buildings that housed The Courier-Journal over the years.

2001 – PAPER DEVOTED TO CRIME COVERAGE LAUNCHES. Snitch publishes beginning July 12 as a free newsweekly dedicated to local and national crime news and information

LOUISVILLE’S AL CROSS HEADS NATIONAL SPJ. Al Cross, political reporter and columnist for The Courier-Journal, assumes presidency of SPJ at its national convention.