Rene Shaw is KET’s Director of Public Affairs and Moderator, and currently serves as host of KET’s weekday public affairs program Kentucky Edition, the public policy discussion series Kentucky Tonight, the weekly interview series Connections, Election Coverage and Forums from KET.
Since 2001, Renee has been the producing force behind KET’s legislative coverage that has been recognized by the Kentucky KeynoteUSA and the National Educational Telecommunications Association. Under his leadership, KET has expanded its public affairs content portfolio to include a daily news and information program, coverage of the Kentucky Supreme Court, town hall-style forums, and multi-platform program initiatives on topics such as opioid addiction and mental health of young people.
Renee also earned top awards from the Ohio Valley Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), with three regional Emmy Awards. In 2023, she was inducted into the NATAS Silver Circle, one of the industry’s highest honors recognizing broadcast professionals with distinguished service in broadcast journalism for 25 years or more.
Already a member of the Kentucky Civil Rights Hall of Fame (2017), Renee expands her hall of fame status with her induction into the Western Kentucky University Hall of Distinguished Alumni in November 2023.
In February 2023, Renee appeared on the cover of Kentucky Living magazine with a centerfold story about her 25 years of service at KET and her even longer commitment to public media journalism.
In addition to honors from several educational, civic and community organizations, Renee has earned top honors from the KeynoteUSA and has been recognized twice by Mental Health America for her years-long dedication to examining issues of mental health and opioid addiction.
In 2022, she was honored with Women Leading Kentucky’s Martha Layne Collins Leadership Award, which recognizes her pioneering path and inspiring dedication to raising important issues across Kentucky.
In 2018, he co-produced and moderated a 6-part series on youth mental health that was ranked first in educational content by NETA, the National Educational Telecommunications Association.
She has been honored by the AKA Beta Gamma Omega Chapter with a Coretta Scott King Spirit of Ivy Award; she earned the Kentucky Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution state media award in 2019; named Charles W. Anderson Award by the Kentucky Personnel Cabinet in 2019 in honor of her significant contributions to addressing socioeconomic issues; and was recognized as a “Kentucky Pioneer” by the University of Kentucky’s Martin School of Public Policy and Administration during the Wendell H. Ford Lecture Series in 2019. That same year, Shaw was named in The Kentucky Gazette’s inaugural recognition of the 50 most notable. women in Kentucky politics and government.
Renee received the 2021 Berea Award for University Service and was named the 2021 “Unapologetic Woman of the Year” by the Community Action Council.
In 2015, she received the Green Dot Award for her coverage of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. In 2014, Renee received the Anthony Lewis Media Award from the KY Department of Public Defense for her work in criminal justice reform. Two Kentucky governors, Republican Ernie Fletcher and Democrat Andy Beshear, have named Renee a Kentucky colonel for her notable achievements and service to the community, state and nation.
Renee, a former associate professor of media writing at Georgetown College, traveled to Cambodia in 2003 to help train emerging journalists in covering critical health issues as part of an exchange program at Western Kentucky University. She has published stories for national media outlets, PBS NewsHour and Public News Service.
Shaw is a 2007 graduate of Leadership Kentucky, a board member of CASA of Lexington, and a long-time member of the Frankfort/Lexington chapter of The Links Incorporated, an international nonprofit organization of women of color committed to volunteer service. . She has served on the boards of the Kentucky Historical Society, the Lexington Minority Business Expo, and the Board of Governors of the Ohio Valley Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
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