[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 57 (Thursday, April 19, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2539-S2540]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO MR. CHIP HUTCHESON

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I stand before you today in honor of 
someone who has made a substantial contribution to the people of 
Caldwell County, KY, for his work in the field of journalism: Mr. Chip 
Hutcheson, publisher of Caldwell County's local periodical, the 
Princeton Times Leader. Mr. Hutcheson was recently inducted into the 
Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in Lexington, KY, along with five 
other esteemed broadcasting and journalism colleagues from all over the 
Commonwealth.
  The relationship between Chip Hutcheson and the paper that would 
become the Princeton Times Leader began when Chip was just 10 months 
old. His parents, the late John and Betsy Hutcheson, purchased the 
then-Princeton Leader and moved to Princeton, KY, just after the birth 
of their son, Chip. John and Betsy shared a love for their chosen 
profession of journalism, a love of the trade that Chip, too, would 
inherit at a young age.
  Looking back, Chip recalls the paper being a big part of his 
adolescent life. He remembers writing sports news all throughout his 
teenage years. Chip left Princeton after high school to attend the 
University of Kentucky, just like his father before him. He enlisted in 
the U.S. Army after graduating from the college and served 4 months of 
active duty in Vietnam.
  Upon his return from the service, he immediately re-entered the field 
he had been passionately involved with for so long. He understood that 
journalism was his calling, and he wanted to make a career out of 
bringing the news to the people of Caldwell County, just as his beloved 
mother and father had. Chip remembered a piece of advice his father 
gave him about the media industry: ``He said, This is a good business, 
but remember this--you will never be caught up; there will always be 
one more advertiser you can see, one more story you can write.'''
  After watching his parents run a newspaper throughout his childhood, 
Chip was no doubt aware of the difficulties of producing a new edition 
day in and day out, but he was okay with it. He had a deep desire to be 
in the thick of reporting. He wanted to follow leads, piece together 
stories, record monumental events, and most importantly, inform the 
citizens of Princeton of the goings on of the world around them.
  Chip became publisher of the Princeton Leader in 1976, assumed the 
role of publisher of the Times Leader in 1992, and has been doing an 
outstanding job ever since. Chip Hutcheson is a testament to the 
success one can achieve when one enters a field of work one has a true 
passion for.
  It is with the most sincere gratitude that I congratulate Mr. Chip 
Hutcheson on his induction to the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame and 
thank him for the heartfelt devotion he has shown the people of 
Princeton, Caldwell County, and the Commonwealth of Kentucky throughout 
the years. And I would like to ask my colleagues in the United States 
Senate to join me in commemorating Mr. Chip Hutcheson for his many 
accomplishments in the field of journalism.
  There was recently an article published in the Princeton Times Leader 
which made note of Chip Hutcheson's induction into the 2012 Kentucky 
Journalism Hall of Fame. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that 
said article be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to appear in the 
Record as follows:

            [From the Princeton Times Leader, Apr. 14, 2012]

                 TL Publisher Joins Hall of Fame Ranks

                           (By Jared Nelson)

       Times Leader Publisher Chip Hutcheson and two others with 
     western Kentucky connections were among a class of six 
     individuals inducted into the 2012 class of the Kentucky 
     Journalism Hall of Fame this week.
       The induction ceremony followed a luncheon hosted by the 
     University of Kentucky Journalism Alumni Association and the 
     UK School of Journalism and Telecommunications in Lexington 
     Wednesday.
       Other inductees included: D.J. Everett III, president of 
     Ham Broadcasting Company, which operates the WKDZ and WHVO 
     radio stations; Dr. Bob McGaughey, retired chairman of the 
     Department of Journalism and Mass Communications at Murray 
     State University; Albert B. ``Ben'' Chandler, Jr., longtime 
     publisher of the Woodford Sun; Bill Luster, retired photo-
     journalist with the Louisville Courier-Journal and two-time 
     Pulitzer Prize winner; and Michael M. York, a former 
     Lexington Herald-Leader and Washington Post reporter, also a 
     Pulitzer Prize winner.
       Duane Bonifer, president of the alumni association, noted 
     April as national Jazz Appreciation Month and drew parallels 
     between the work of great jazz musicians and great 
     journalists, their balance of innovation and improvisation.
       ``We're going to celebrate the artistry of Chandler, 
     Everett, Hutcheson, Luster, McGaughey, and York,'' he said. 
     ``That's not a bad sextet to be jamming with on a Wednesday 
     afternoon in Lexington.''

[[Page S2540]]

       Hutcheson has served as publisher of the Times Leader since 
     its 1992 creation, when the community's two newspapers, the 
     Caldwell County Times and the Princeton Leader, were 
     purchased by the Kentucky New Era and merged.
       Hutcheson had published the Leader, taking over from his 
     parents, in 1976.
       In his induction speech Wednesday, he recalled a life spent 
     in the business.
       ``If anyone has ink in their veins, that would be me,'' he 
     said.
       His parents, the late John and Betsy Hutcheson, bought the 
     Leader when their son was 10 months old and moved to 
     Princeton, a town where the only person they knew was the 
     paper's prior owner.
       ``But that paper was a labor of love for my parents, and in 
     turn for me,'' he said.
       The paper, he said, was a major part of his life throughout 
     childhood and into his teenage years, when he began writing 
     sports news.
       He enrolled at UK, following his father's footsteps.
       Faced with the prospect of being drafted into the U.S. Army 
     after graduating, he returned to Princeton.
       He was hired as a sports editor for the Kentucky New Era, 
     taking his father's advice to gain experience outside the 
     family business.
       The day before he was to be drafted, he was able to enlist 
     in the Army Reserve. ``That meant four months of active duty 
     rather than two years, so my time away from the New Era was 
     brief,'' he said.
       He served as sports editor there from 1970 to 1976, when 
     his father retired from the Leader and handed the reins to 
     his son.
       ``My father only offered one piece of advice, and I have 
     never forgotten it,'' he told the Lexington crowd.
       ``He said `This is a good business, but remember this--you 
     will never be caught up; there will always be one more 
     advertiser you can see, one more story you can write.'
       ``It was that philosophy that has guided me ever since.''
       Hutcheson credited the support of his family in the years 
     since: his mother, who worked 60-plus hours each week at the 
     paper into her 70s, retiring only when the papers merged; his 
     wife, Karen, a nurse by profession who became a utility 
     employee; and children Cindy and John Mark, who spent much 
     time in the newspaper office during their formative years.
       ``The Leader truly was a `family' business,'' he said ``I 
     regret that my parents are not here today for this honor my 
     dad died 10 years ago and my mother just last year--because 
     they were the ones who instilled in me this love of community 
     journalism.''
       He also gave thanks to the employees of the Times Leader 
     for their support, and to the community at large for being a 
     ``strong newspaper town.''
       The publisher quoted Lou Gehrig's famous farewell speech to 
     a 1939 Yankee Stadium--``Today I consider myself the luckiest 
     man on the face of this earth''--in closing.
       ``I'm not the luckiest man,'' Hutcheson said. ``I'm the 
     most blessed man. I'm blessed to work with the people I work 
     with. I'm blessed to be in the community I live in, and I'm 
     blessed to have a family who thinks much more highly of me 
     than I deserve.''

                          ____________________