David Thompson
Destined to be a part of journalism history, David Thompson has enjoyed over 42 years of service to the Kentucky Press Association (KPA) prior to his retirement in December 2025.
Thompson began his journey as a young child, having always wanted to be a journalist. His father, Billy Thompson, was the sports editor at the Lexington Herald before becoming a news anchor for a local news station in Lexington.
“I decided, seeing all the benefits he gets as a sports editor and getting into ball games and interviewing pro-athletes and college athletes, I thought, I want to do that someday,” Thompson stated.
Thompson officially decided to become a journalist at 15 and later acquired a journalism degree from the University of Kentucky, becoming a sportswriter for the Lexington Herald and publisher at the Georgetown News and Times.
In the early 1980s, a classified ad was running stating that the KPA was looking for an executive director. At the same time, several newspapers in Lexington — including the Georgetown News and Times — were at risk of being sold.
Thompson recalled that when he saw the ad, he decided to apply, figuring that with his job at risk, he had little to lose.
“I applied, they had 147 applicants and got down, got through the interview process — two of them — and they selected me, and so I jumped at the chance,” he explained.
On Monday, Sept. 26, 1983, Thompson officially began his decades-long career as the executive director at the KPA.
In an interview, Thompson claimed he had no idea what he was getting into.
“One of the prime things was lobbying, and I had never been to a legislative session,” said Thompson.
He noted that while he knew the representatives and elected officials from Scott County, he had never been to the capitol in Frankfort to experience lobbying in person.
“That was the scariest part, and it took me a while to get accustomed to it,” Thompson stated. “Fortunately, I started in ‘83, and the next session was not until ‘84, so I had a few months to feel my way around Frankfort and my way around the Capitol and find out from other lobbyists what it was all about.”
When asked what the most memorable moments from his career at the KPA were, Thompson stated that the first was the internship program.
“We needed to get college students into newspapers to let them see what the real world of journalism was about; not what they were learning in the classroom, but what it was really like to work for one,” he said. “We had a very successful internship program. It was the first of its kind in the country, and before long, 13 other states plus the National Newspaper Association modeled their programs after ours.”
Thompson expressed that he hopes students continue to learn that “journalism really does matter.”
“People try to put us down, put down the industry to say, ‘Oh, we’re failing, and newspapers won’t be around very long,’ but we’ve really lost very, very few newspapers over the years. I always consider our newspapers as being resilient. They will fight locally, they’ll do what they need to do to stay pertinent to journalism,” he said. “So, I hope the kids learn that journalism does matter. Don’t pay any attention to what people are saying about newspapers.”
Thompson then explained his ideal goal of 100 percent of eligible newspapers in Kentucky holding a KPA membership.
“I think when I started there were 30, maybe 32 newspapers that were not part of the KPA, and it took about 10 years, but in ‘93, we finally got the final two newspapers to join KPA. So ever since then, we can say that we have 100 percent membership of all the eligible newspapers in the country,” he stated.
When asked about his favorite experiences as a member of the KPA, Thompson expressed that he has many stories.
For example, Thompson once visited the White House during President Reagan’s term. While there, Secret Service agents came up to him and asked him if he was David Thompson. When he replied in the affirmative, they asked him to go with them.
”They took me down to the White House press room,” Thompson exclaimed.
He then stated that his position in the KPA has given him the chance to visit every state — including Alaska and Hawaii —the Canadian Provinces and Japan.
As the KPA moves into the future, Thompson stated that he hopes the Association remains strong.
“We have a tendency to be called one of the best state press associations in the country, you know, little ole Kentucky, but we’re doing well, and I want to see that continue,” he said. “I want to see the newspapers believe in KPA and support KPA so that it can remain strong.”
According to Thompson, the KPA has the largest press association board in the country with 27 members. He also noted how the Newspaper Association Managers that the directors of the state press associations and the Canadian Provinces are a part of is a sort of brotherhood.
“Working with a board that large might be cumbersome, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I love our newspapers, love our people, our journalists, our reporters, the ad-sales folks, the publishers, and it’s just a trust that we’ve put in each other over the years that makes it so manageable,” Thompson concluded.
Jennifer Donahue, Publisher at The Ledger Independent, was elected to the KPA Board of Directors for District 8 in June 2023.
“David Thompson, KPA’s executive director, warmly welcomed me and quickly put me at ease. During our conversation, we discovered a shared connection to Georgetown, Kentucky — where I spent my early years and still have family — and he even knew some of them. David’s support made my first board meeting far less daunting,” Donahue stated.
She continued, “His retirement is bittersweet. While well deserved, he will be greatly missed. With more than 42 years at the helm of KPA, David brought exceptional expertise. His advocacy for print journalism has been singular, and his legacy sets a high standard for the future. Wishing David all the best and congratulations on an extraordinary career.”
