Media

One of the best ways to get a feel for the community—what it’s all about, what’s going on, what is important to the residents—is to pick up a newspaper. It’s a good way to feel like a native, as well. Sitting with the local daily over a cup of coffee in a neighborhood diner or entrenched in a comfortable chair in the hotel lobby—this is the way to take the pulse of the town. Louisville has a variety of newspapers and magazines that make it easy to keep abreast of happenings and goings-on in town, but there are other sources of news and information as well. A goodly number of television and radio stations make use of the spoken word, and, increasingly, more and more people are turning to the Internet for local sources that inform and entertain.

All in all, the Louisville media has enjoyed a solid reputation among its counterparts across the nation, and this is backed up by regular recognition of its quality and accomplishments. WHAS Radio was a pioneer in broadcasting, and its clear-channel signal allows it to be heard in most of the United States today; the Courier-Journal—even since Gannett took them over—has consistently ranked as one of the best newspapers in the country, winning numerous Pulitzer Prizes over the years. In recent decades, a number of upstarts such as Business First and LEO (Louisville Eccentric Observer) have managed to become fixtures on the regional news scene as well. Even local television stations are reported by those in the industry as being more serious and less sensationalistic than stations in other parts of the country.

That having been said, Louisville radio often leans to the conservative side, and a healthy number of stations are devoted to religious talk and gospel music. Louisville public radio—there are three separate public radio stations in town—has really distinguished itself and has become the envy of larger cities that cannot claim the same number of stations, not to mention the same quality of programming.

Obviously, you will have no trouble staying up-to-date on local happenings in the Derby City; whatever you decide on—newspaper, magazine, online publication, radio, or TV—this list should have you feeling like one of the locals in no time at all.