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Arkansas Press Association
Publisher Weekly Vol. 16 | No. 8 | Thursday, February 25, 2021 | Serving Press and State Since 1873
Allen goes back ‘home,’ assumes ownership of Voice After 14 years in Hot Springs Village, Jennifer Allen is now that community’s latest “home” newspaper owner. Earlier this month, Allen acquired the Hot Springs Village Voice from Gannett Co. She had previously been publisher of that newspaper, as well as several other corporately-owned newspapers, before assuming ownership of the Voice. Allen is excited about the opportunity to be publisher and owner of a business in the community and industry she loves. “No matter how many newspapers I’ve served in the state, this has always been my home, my home base,” Allen said. “When the opportunity was presented to me, I said ‘Yes, this is what I want to do.’ I’ve done this for 32 years, and this is what I know and this is what I love. So I said, ‘Yeah, I can do that.’” Terms of the sale were not disclosed. The sale appears to be part of a greater Gannett strategy to shift focus away from small, community newspaper ownership. That suits Allen, who has worked at or overseen newspaper operations in multiple communities in Arkansas, including Hot Springs, Stuttgart, and Pine Bluff. According to a statement in the newspaper, Jay Fogarty, senior vice-president of corporate development for Gannett Media, said: “We are delighted to have an agreement with Jennifer to take ownership of the Hot Springs Village Voice. The community will be in good hands with her leading the paper, and we wish her and our former employees all the best.” Allen launched her newspaper career in her native Malvern as a high school student. While in college at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, she sold ads for Arkadelphia’s daily newspaper. She worked 15 years for The Sentinel-Record in Hot Continued on Page 2