The Champion of Open Government certificate and the James Madison Award were gifted at UK’s annual State of the First Amendment Address on Thursday, Nov. 2.

Hosted by the UK School of Journalism and Media and held in the Rosenberg College of Law Grand Courtroom, the event featured keynote speaker Kyu Ho Youm, University of Oregon Jonathan Marshall First Amendment Chair.

The Champion of Open Government certificate was given to UK alumna Kendall Staton.

New to the First Amendment Address, the certificate was created specifically for Staton after she received several nominations for the James Madison Award.

The certificate was created to honor early-career journalists, according to Kathryn Montalbano, the director of the First Amendment Center at UK.

Staton was praised by Montalbano for her commitment to informing citizens as the regional editor of the Cynthiana Democrat.

Montalbano said that this was done through her investigation of the earnings of Harrison County School Superintendent Harry Burchett.

“After the publication of her articles related to wages in the county, and intimidation tactics employed by the men that run that county, Kendall received accolades from the citizens of Harrison County,” Montalbano said.

Staton accepted her award by thanking Montalbano and delivering brief remarks.

“All I wanted to say was that was a lot of words to say that I’m doing my job. And I plan to keep continuing to do my job. Thank you,” Staton said.

The second award presented was the James Madison Award. Kaplan Johnson Abate & Bird LLP associate Michael Abate won the award.

Kaplan Johnson Abate & Bird is a Louisville-based law firm with a specialty in First Amendment and media law, according to their website.

Abate fought for a multitude of issues surrounding the First Amendment in the state of Kentucky, including uncovering information about the officer-involved shooting of Breonna Taylor, according to Montalbano.

“You know, my job is empowering the journalists we work with to do the essential work in our democracy,” Abate said.

After the awards were presented, Youm gave the First Amendment Address.

The First Amendment Address is an annual presentation presented by the UK School of Journalism and Media first started in 2017, according to their website.

Becoming annual in 2020, seven different keynote speakers have been featured at the event.

During his address, Youm sourced from his personal encounters and research to discuss what free speech meant to him.

“Using my own experience, I learned the value of freedom of speech and freedom of expression,” Youm said.

Youm argued that freedom of speech is essential and could only present positives to those who adopted the concept. 

“No country has ever fallen apart from free speech,” Youm said.