March 27 – Meet Our Speaker Rufus Friday!

Last year, Gallop reported “that Americans continue to register record-low trust in the mass media, with 31% expressing a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence in the media to report the news “fully, accurately and fairly,” similar to last year’s 32%. Americans’ trust in the media–such as newspapers, television, and radio–first fell to 32% in 2016 and did so again last year. For the third consecutive year, more U.S. adults have no trust at all in the media (36%) than trust it a great deal or fair amount. Another 33% of Americans express“not very much” confidence.

Today’s speaker, Rufus Friday, will address what he and his organization, the Center for Integrity in News Reporting (CFINR), are doing to counter this trend.

Friday is a distinguished media executive and leader dedicated to journalistic integrity, community engagement, and public service.CFINR was established in 2024 to lead the charge in solving the issue of regaining the public’s trust in media. Friday was appointed as Executive Director of CFINR that same year.

Before joining CFINR, Friday served as President and Publisher of the Lexington Herald-Leader in Kentucky from 2011 to 2018. He later served as special Assistant to the President and ChiefAdvocacy Communication Strategist at the Kentucky Community and Technical College System(KCTCS)from 2019 to 2021 and as Executive Director of the Hope Center in Lexington from 2021 to 2023. Prior to that Friday served numerous newspapers in a variety of capacities.

A proud alumnus of North Carolina State University, Friday holds a B.A. in Business Management and Economics. He also played football for NC State. In recognition of his leadership and contributions, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of the Cumberlands. Friday’s dedication to service extends beyond journalism. He currently serves as Chair of theStars and Stripes newspaper publisher national advisory board, as well as on the boards of theSouthern Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation and theNationalChildren’s Reading Foundation

Additionally, he is a board member of theMuhammad Ali Center, a trustee of theUniversity of the Cumberlands, a member of theUniversity of Kentucky’s College of Communication andInformation Dean’s Advisory Council and serves on theBaptist Health Lexington Administration Board and theFoundation for a Healthy Kentucky Advisory Council. In 2019, he was inducted into the Junior Achievement of the Bluegrass Business Hall of Fame in recognition of his professional and community impact.

Friday and his wife,Melody, reside outside Lexington, Kentucky, and are proud parents to their daughter, Chanel.

 

 

RESTORING INTEGRITY IN THE NEWS MEDIA

Our March 27 meeting kicked off with a great deal of excitement when Emery Wilson drew the “lucky” card for the Lottery.Following that happy (for Emery; not the rest of us!) President Bret Anderson provided a brief “State of the Club” identifying the need for us to bring in a minimum of thirty new members to help address our financial needs. He also outlined three “Powerhouse Fundraisers” that we will have prior to the Club hosting the Large Club Conference in 2026.

Our speaker,Dr.RufusFriday, Executive Director for the Center for Integrity in News Reporting, began his remarks by quoting Rotary’s own4-Way Test, stating that it is a model that should guide journalism. Through a series of charts and graph she demonstrated how there has been a massive decline in public trust for most institutions. More specifically, he noted that36% of Americans have NO trust in the media. The reasons for this decline are the many false hoods perpetrated by specific news outlets. This has led the“keepers of the news” to fall into two types of presentations: persuasion vs.truth. News outlets in theUnited States rank last amongst forty-six countries in truthfulness. It is a question of reporting vs. opinion, fact vs. fiction.Dr. Friday believes that this trend has been exacerbated by the 24/7 cable news outlets. Standards have been lowered to the point where reporting takes place prior to verifying the truth. In addition, the advent of social media has created a universal forum. That forum allows for anonymous posts that focus on advocacy over objectivity.

The Center for Integrity has as its mission to restore impartial, objective, and fair journalism. They provide a $25,000 award to a news outlet that actually provides that type of reporting. They also provide tools to enhance the leadership roles in journalism, because without this we are doomed to replicate the growth of the current system where the truth gets lost. The Center has a highly distinguished Board that is hands-on, as evidenced by adopting an official statement of actual values to which reporters should adhere.

Dr. Friday provided the audience with some suggestions on how we can help. He suggested the following:

1. Engage with the local media

2. Support ethical journalism

3. Educate your community

4. Answer the call to action to restore integrity to news reporting

In closing Dr. Friday once again referenced the Rotary 4-way test and how it is a model not just for journalism but also how to live one’s life.

If I can be forgiven a personal note it was early during my presidential term when Rotarian Bill Kimbrell approached me and asked,“The4-Way Test is such a powerful statement, why don’t were cite it at every meeting?”I thought about it for less than three seconds and, as Andy Griffith would have said, and so we did. That was in the summer of 2000. Thank you Mr. Bill “heavy on the Mister” Kimbrell.