MSU to host the McGaughey Lecture on Press Freedom and Responsibility

MURRAY, Ky. – Murray State University will host the McGaughey Lecture on Press Freedom and Responsibility on Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. in Lovett Auditorium located on Murray State’s campus. The lecture will bring noted political cartoonist Marc Murphy to the stage, and will be among the first events in the newly-remodeled auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

Established in 2020 through a generous bequest from the late Robert H. McGaughey (“Doc” McGaughey), the McGaughey Lecture was created by the McGaughey Fund for Excellence in Journalism and Mass Communication.

“Doc McGaughey was a devout believer in press freedom,” said Kevin Qualls, chair of Murray State University’s department of Journalism and Mass Communications (JMC). “But he was equally devoted to the concept of press responsibility to public service, the dissemination of truth and protection of innocence. As a leader of the JMC faculty at Murray State University, he devoted his life to those principles in teaching and in practice.”

The 2023 lecturer, Marc Murphy, is a Louisville attorney with an ability to capture the essence of important ethical and political issues in his art. He is regularly published in The Courier Journal and USA Today. His cartoons have garnered numerous local and national awards. 

“In colonial America, publishing political cartoons critical of government and its leaders was often a criminal offense, resulting in heavy fines and even jail,” said Qualls. “The First Amendment was ratified, in large part, to protect the right to dissent. This presentation will focus on the value of dissent.”  

“Dissent is important if we are to have a well-informed electorate. And Marc Murphy does it boldly while maintaining fair standards,” said Qualls. “We’re fortunate to have Marc Murphy as our first McGaughey lecturer.”

McGaughey’s association with the JMC Department began as an undergraduate staff member of The Murray State News. Following a tour of duty in Vietnam, he returned to Murray State as an advisor to the student paper and became the first student to graduate from JMC’s Master of Science program. He earned his doctorate in mass communications at Ohio University before returning again to the Murray State JMC Department as a faculty member. In 1974, he became chairman of the newly formed department; formerly known as Journalism and Radio/TV.  

“When Doc was inducted into the Kentucky Press Hall of Fame, he laid out the problems that would afflict our society without checks on press irresponsibility,” said Robert Valentine, a long-time colleague of McGaughey. “He was one of the first scholars to articulate the stress that comes from unchecked abuse of the privilege of free speech.” 

Valentine said the McGaughey Fund for Excellence in Journalism is an extension of “Doc” McGaughey’s life-long campaign to “teach the responsible use of free speech in media while safeguarding the public good.” 

“It is among the greatest challenges we face today,” adds Qualls.

The lecture is intended to be an annual effort to encourage both dissent and responsibility.

For more information please contact Murray State University’s Department of Journalism and Mass Communications at 270-809-2387.