Hall of Famer Lets Her Curiosity Drive Her Passion

By Laurel Swanz

Journalism has undergone drastic changes since Jamie Lucke '76 CI entered the newsroom nearly 50 years ago. She cited the industry’s digital transformation, the rise of social media and the decline of daily newspapers, to name a few.

Despite this societal shift, Lucke’s passion and curiosity remained constant. This is what she said carried her through her career, winning national awards for her editorials with the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Recently, she was inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame, which annually honors impactful journalists who have spent a large portion of their careers in Kentucky.

Lucke, 71, has written for numerous papers in different states, but spent the most time, 32 years, with the Lexington Herald-Leader. She briefly retired at 65 but got bored.

“I just did not really take to retirement that well,” Lucke said. “I really thought I was gonna become a gardener and a do-it-yourself project person around my house. And I didn't do any of that. About all I could come up with was Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.”

When she wasn’t watching British murder mysteries, she was reading the news, missing the excitement of breaking it herself.

So, when States Newsroom, a national nonprofit organization focused on expanding policy reporting in state capitals, came to her with the idea of starting a new newsroom in Kentucky, she couldn’t resist.

“The creator and CEO called me to talk about government and news and people in Kentucky, and I was so excited,” Lucke said. “And the more I thought about it, I thought, I’d like to contribute to that. And then I thought, well, I could be the editor.”

Lucke applied for the job. In September 2022, she was catapulted out of retirement and into her current role – founding Editor-in-Chief of the Kentucky Lantern, based in Frankfort.

We talked with Lucke to reflect on her career, her time at the Lantern and her thoughts on the evolving world of journalism.

Q: What is different about working for a nonprofit newsroom versus a for-profit one?

A: We’re not under any pressure to produce numbers for stockholders. Now, we want to publish stories that people want to read, but I don’t share analytics with reporters. In for-profit newsrooms, reporters are under pressure to produce numbers. Advertising has always supported traditional newspapers.

Q: Why do you think nonprofit journalism is important to citizens of Kentucky?

A: No one has to pay for a subscription. Not everyone can afford to subscribe to a news service, but everyone needs the information. We are in the habit of being able to read endlessly for free, and a lot of what you get for free is worth what you pay for it. I feel like, given the wash of misinformation we are in right now, to have a free source of independent journalism that's produced by the rules of journalism – I think that's all the more important. The mission of States Newsroom is to fill gaps left by the decline of newspapers, especially in state capitals, and we try to do that.

Q: How do you find the gaps in coverage that need to be filled?

A: We have beats that we cover, we go out and we ask questions and we figure out the stories we need to tell. I don't pretend that with a small staff we're filling all the gaps or we're finding all the stories that need to be told. In a way, that's the eternal frustration of a journalist.

Q: What has witnessing the shift from print to digital and how it affected the industry been like?

A: You know, in a way, I think it's like the frog who's in the pot of boiling water. It just happens gradually, and one day, you realize you're cooked. Three of the eight newspapers where I worked no longer exist. I think the technological change in my lifetime has been pretty overwhelming. It's changed our culture. It's changed our posture, hunched over on screens all the time. When you're inside something like that, I think day-to-day, you're just focused on what you need to learn that day to do your job.

Q: How have you had to adapt to do your job now?

A: I had a personal barrier of learning how to do every task that was required to publish a digital news site. I think that what I'm doing at the Lantern is kind of like what weekly newspaper editors do. It's a little bit of everything. I think a lot of journalists are doing that now.

Q: Does it feel more difficult to get the same information that you used to?

A: Yes, I think it does. I mean, we still have, thank goodness, an open meetings law in Kentucky and a Freedom of Information Act, although it can be pretty slow and burdensome. But, just in terms of being able to interact personally and directly with the people you want to ask questions of, it's a lot harder. I just think people in government and public life now, maybe I'm wrong about this, but it just strikes me that they're trying a lot harder to control the message than they did. It’s a lot harder to speak oneon-one with a government official than it was.

Q: What are some fears you have for the future of journalism, but also some hopes?

A: Well, the hopes are people like the staff of the Lantern. The fear is that we can't change fast enough to stay relevant and accessible in this media atmosphere, where there's so much competition for people's attention. The fragmented media environment serves to fragment reality for people, and you can find your own reality on the internet. Once you find it, the algorithms just keep pushing you deeper into it and away from real reality. That is our challenge to overcome as journalists.

Q: What advice would you give to aspiring journalists?

A: Cultivate, build, nurture your curiosity. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Read widely, read a lot, read books, don't just read Instagram. Don't spend all your time looking at reels.

Q: What does it mean to you to have many accolades for your work?

A: It’s nice to be recognized, but that’s not the most important reward for a journalist. I think it’s when you know you’ve told a story that needs to be told that would not have been told had you not done it. ■