Ken Paulson

Ken Paulson is president and chief operating officer of the Freedom Forum, Newseum and Diversity Institute.

Previously, Mr. Paulson served as editor and senior vice president/news of USA Today and USATODAY.com.  USA Today is the nation's top-selling newspaper.

For the past 30 years, Mr. Paulson has drawn on his background as both a journalist and lawyer, serving as the editor or managing editor of newspapers in five different states and as the executive director of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University. 

He was on the team of journalists who founded USA Today in 1982 before moving on to manage newsrooms in Westchester County, N.Y., Green Bay, Wis., Bridgewater, N.J. and at Florida Today in Brevard County, Fla. He is widely known for his efforts to inform and educate Americans about First Amendment freedoms and as a strong voice for tougher confidential sourcing policies and ethics guidelines in America’s newsrooms.

Mr. Paulson also was the host of the Emmy-nominated television program “Speaking Freely,” seen in more than 60 PBS markets nationwide over five seasons, and the author of “Freedom Sings,” a multimedia stage show celebrating the First Amendment that continues to tour the nation's campuses.

He was an early advocate of making newspaper content available online, launching online newspapers in both Florida and New York in 1993. 
For the past 10 years, Mr. Paulson has been a regular guest lecturer at the American Press Institute, speaking to more than 5,000 journalists about First Amendment issues. He recently was honored with the API Lifetime Service Award.

Mr. Paulson has been elected to the leadership of the American Society of Newspaper Editors and will be president of ASNE in 2011. In 2007, he was named Fellow of the Society of Professional Journalists, “the highest honor SPJ bestows upon a journalist for extraordinary contributions to the profession.”

He is a graduate of the University of Illinois, College of Law and the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He also has served as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University Law School and is a member of both the Illinois and Florida bars.