Ivan Rice will receive Al Smith Award for public service through community journalism

AL CROSS
Secretary, Bluegrass Chapter,
Society of Professional Journalists

Ivan Rice, who has become a Kentucky legend by covering sports and scholastic athletes for the Bourbon County Citizen for 43 years, is the winner of the 2026 Al Smith Award for public service through community journalism by Kentuckians.

“Ivan Rice represents the very best of local journalism and community service,” track coach and county Magistrate Drew Perraut wrote in a letter supporting Rice’s nomination. “For more than 40 years, Ivan has been one of the most influential and positive forces in Bourbon County.”

Rice will receive the award from the Bluegrass Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists Oct. 22 at the Al Smith Awards Dinner, hosted by the University of Kentucky’s College of Communication and Information and its Institute for Rural Journalism, at The Campbell House, 1375 S. Broadway, Lexington.

That afternoon, Rice and Citizen Publisher Rebecca Lawyer will discuss their work at a free symposium for journalists at The Campbell House. The moderator will be Bluegrass SPJ Secretary Al Cross, who will also present a short session on covering local-government budgets and property taxes.

The Bourbon County Citizen is the oldest newspaper west of the Alleghenies. Rice, an African American, is the first person of color to receive the award. He is also the first individual recipient who has never been an editor or publisher – or even a full-time newsroom employee. His main job is working as a team leader with Geno’s Formal Affair Lexington.

“Though he has no children of his own, Rice has developed lasting personal connections with countless athletes and their families,” Lawyer wrote in her nomination of Rice. “From T-ball to pro ball, he has celebrated athletes’ victories, encouraged them through setbacks, and followed their accomplishments into adulthood with the pride and support akin to that of a devoted parent.”

In the weekly newspaper, “He continually emphasizes the life lessons athletics can teach — leadership, teamwork, resilience, discipline, responsibility, communication, respect, courage, confidence, patience, and commitment,” Lawyer wrote.

Covering scholastic sports in Bourbon County is no easy task because the county has two public-school systems, for the county and Paris, as well as Bourbon Christian Academy. By all accounts, Rice covers them all fully and fairly.

Detailed information on the Al Smith Awards Dinner and the free symposium for journalists will be announced soon.

The award is named for the late Albert P. Smith Jr., who was a national SPJ fellow and the driving force for creation of the Institute for Rural Journalism, headed its advisory board and was its chair emeritus until his death in 2021. He published newspapers in Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee, was founding producer and host of KET’s “Comment on Kentucky,” and federal co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission. He was the first winner of the award in 2011.

Other winners of the Smith Award, and their affiliations at the time, have been:
2012: Jennifer P. Brown, Kentucky New Era; and Max Heath, Landmark Community Newspapers
2013: John Nelson, Danville Advocate-Messenger
2014: Bill Bishop and Julie Ardery, The Daily Yonder
2015: Carl West, The State Journal, Frankfort
2016: Sharon Burton, Adair County Community Voice and The Farmer’s Pride
2017: Ryan Craig, Todd County Standard, and the late Larry Craig, Green River Republican, Morgantown
2018: Stevie Lowery, The Lebanon Enterprise
2019: David Thompson, Kentucky Press Association
2020: Becky Barnes, The Cynthiana Democrat
2021: WKMS News, Murray State University
2022: Chris and Allison Evans, The Crittenden Press, Marion
2023: Ben Gish and Sam Adams, The Mountain Eagle, Whitesburg
2024: Bobbie Foust, The Lake News, Calvert City
2025: Bill Estep, Lexington Herald-Leader