Business and civic leaders say 'thank you' to Lexington paper in full-page ad

Twenty civic leaders and business owners ran a full-page ad in the Lexington (Kentucky) Herald-Leader last weekend to express their appreciation for the good work being done by the paper's staff and "for their commitment to covering COVID-19 and its impact in our community."

"We thank you," the ad read, "for your dedication to providing our community, local businesses and charities with up-to-date news and resources as we strive to support one another during this challenging time.  Let's stay together and stay strong!"

Comments posted in response to the ad on the paper's Twitter page echoed the sentiments.

• "This is wonderful — but I'm sorry that it took a pandemic to get this acknowledgement from your community."
• "Thanks for all you’re doing!"
• "So well-deserved. And that is a fine group to be appreciated by. Some of our city’s best citizens, businesspeople and civic leaders."
• "Maybe a silver lining of all this is that people realize we really do need local journalists. Thank you!"
• "Not said enough...Thank You!"

An article by the National Press Club noted that signers were a cross-section of political and community leadership, including Kelly Craft, a top Republican fundraiser and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Ben Self, the chairman of the Kentucky Democratic Party.

Lindy Karns, who was campaign treasurer for Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s campaign and is a long-time friend of Craft’s, initiated the ad effort after seeing a Herald-Leader request for readers to subscribe to the paper.

“I am an old timey newspaper reader; grew up reading two newspapers every day,” she said in an email to the National Press Club. “My husband and I subscribe to the print and online editions of the paper.  The Lexington Herald Leader has done a yeoman’s job of trying to keep the community informed both about COVID 19 news as well as about businesses, charities and other community events, and doing it without charge.”

“I started thinking about other ways we could support the reporters and others, and I thought of this ad,” she said. “I reached out to other community spirited people I knew that day, and in a very short time, and a few phone calls, was able to collect enough folks to pay for an ad, thanking the HL and its staff.”