Introducing John Cheves & Andrew Henderson

We want you, our readers, to know who it is that’s bringing you the news you’re reading here at the Lexington Herald-Leader. You’ve likely seen the names that accompany a story, but that’s still a bit impersonal.

Over the next several weeks, we’ll introduce you to the reporters, editors, producers and other staffers who work here at the Herald-Leader — the folks who work hard to bring you the news you’ve come to rely on and trust over the years.

As we continue this ongoing series, here are two more folks we’re happy to introduce.

John Cheves

Hi, I’m John Cheves. My reporting beat at the Lexington Herald-Leader is “government accountability.” That’s too many syllables to say that I write about what our elected leaders do in Kentucky and how they make mistakes, honest or otherwise.

I’ve chosen to spend nearly 30 years in local newspapers – mostly here at the Herald-Leader – because this is where good journalism can make the greatest impact. There will never be a shortage of reporters in Washington or New York. The same can’t be said for Kentucky.

The advantages to being a veteran reporter at a local paper include institutional knowledge and the opportunity to keep digging into the same stories for a long time. In recent years, for example, I’ve broken news about the mistreatment of youths inside the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice. This has led to oversight hearings by the General Assembly and the passage of reform legislation.

You can email me at jcheves@herald-leader.com with tips, questions or concerns. Read some of John’s recent work:

• ‘Do they not care?’ Kentucky faces huge backlog of nursing home inspections

• Long before the KY legislature waged war on ‘woke,’ it accused people of communism

• KY juvenile facility kept officer despite signs of sexual misconduct. ‘Everybody knew.’

• ‘Stand for our fossil.’ KY lawmakers tell utilities to keep the coal plants burning

• KY politicians took $232,344 in PAC money from gun rights groups over last 10 years

Andrew Henderson

Hi, I’m Andrew Henderson, nice to meet you. I’m the “Senior Audience Growth Producer of Newsletters” for the Lexington Herald-Leader, and a handful of other newspapers in the grand McClatchy company. My title is really just a fancy way of saying I oversee things like newsletters (including this one), social media, a bunch of online hullabaloo and what not.

I grew up in Carter County where my family has roots going back generations; one side as farmers and the other side with a history of running funeral homes. I graduated from Western Kentucky University, where I got my start in journalism at the student newspaper. After graduating, I spent three years at The Oldham Era, the weekly paper for Oldham County.

A lot of my job is focusing on ways to engage with our readers and reach them with the news that matters to them. Social media can be one way to do that, but right now I’m really focused on newsletters. So if you can do me a favor and sign up for some, if you haven’t already before, while you’re here then that would be fantastic.

Is there something you would enjoy to see in our newsletters? Or maybe a newsletter on a topic you wish we had? Email me at ahenderson@herald-leader.com with your insight. See some of Andrew’s recent work.

• My Ky. hometown made international news for its absurd number of dollar stores

• The Dover Covered Bridge is the oldest of its kind in KY. Can it be saved? | Opinion

• Silas House talks climate change, community, love and not killing the dog | Opinion

• Watch: In conversation with ‘My Old Kentucky Home’ author Emily Bingham

Thank you for being a reader, and hopefully a subscriber as well, although if you’re not the latter we do encourage you to remedy that. We’ll see you back here next week with more smiling faces to introduce.

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This story was originally published October 27, 2023 at 11:39 AM.