The Kentucky Kernel
The Kentucky Kernel, the University of Kentucky’s student newspaper, is a 24-7 news operation that publishes online at kykernel.com and in print twice a week. The Kernel also publishes multiple magazines and web sites and operates Underground Design — a student group that provides public relations, design and marketing for various groups and businesses on- and off-campus.
The Kernel is an independent, non-profit corporation. Students make all final editorial decisions. The Kernel has been independent since 1971.Eager, full-time UK students studying any discipline are encouraged to apply for positions in reporting, writing, design, web production, advertising sales, public relations, social media, photography and video.
Initial assignments can range from covering breaking news to working on brochures to shooting a nationally televised basketball game. For an ambitious student, the Kernel can be a front-row seat to life at the University of Kentucky.
The Kernel has won numerous state, regional and national awards, including the Pacemaker, often called the Pulitzer Prize of college journalism. Our students have interned everywhere from the New York Times to Lexington Family Magazine. And our recent graduates can be seen at the Today Show, MSNBC and The Washington Post. Applications are accepted year round. Follow the Kernel on Facebook or Twitter @kykernel
WRFL-FM (Radio Free Lexington)
WRFL-FM (Radio Free Lexington) is the University of Kentucky student-run radio station. Transmitting at 88.1 Mhz, WRFL’s terrestrial broadcast covers Lexington and most of the Central Bluegrass region of Kentucky. Of course, it is also streaming on the internet and you can find many of the shows on the Podcast One App. The station accepts both students and community members as DJs and is staffed completely by volunteers, except for a small group of student directors who are paid modest amounts to perform extremely responsible jobs. There is a live DJ on the air playing music 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year, with never any automation.
WRFLʼs mission, as an FCC licensed, non-commercial, educational radio station and a student organization of the University of Kentucky, is to provide its members professional training and guidance in radio operations management, program development, and quality broadcast performance – while offering its listeners a source of music, news, and other programming not regularly found through other media outlets in central Kentucky.
WRFL began as an idea proposed in an editorial in the Kentucky Kernel, the student newspaper, in 1985. The author, student Kakie Urch, became a co-founder of the station and is now an associate professor in our School. The station went on the air in March of 1988. Students in the School of Journalism and Media produce a daily WRFL Campus and Community Calendar, the weekly half-hour Campus Voices show, and numerous radio spots of all kinds. Associate Professor John F. Clark served as the faculty advisor for WRFL from 1999 until his retirement in June 2022. Station co-founder and associate professor Kakie Urch is the current faculty advisor.
Many of the journalism broadcast media majors who have worked in our classes on WRFL have gone on to important nation wide radio careers with outfits like NPR and iHeart Radio.
Wildcat News
The School of Journalism and Media airs a live television news show produced by students enrolled in JOU 404 Advanced TV News.
Other Student Media
News in and around the small but surprisingly interesting town of Midway, Ky.,was reported, written and photographed by students in community journalism classes in the UK School of Journalism and Media, taught by Extension Professor of Journalism Al Cross, director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues.