APA’s new public notice website is now live statewide for the benefit of its member newspapers and Arkansas residents. The site can be found at arkansaspublicnotices.com or under the existing Public Notice tab on APA’s website.
Vol.17 | No. 35 | Thursday, September 1, 2022 | Serving Press and State Since 1873 7 3 Guest Column: By Teri Finneman Beyond the 1800s: Revenue heldFreedomArkansaspastemphasizesmodelmovingpennypresseraPressGalatobeOctober20 Arkansas Press Association Publisher Weekly
APA joins 16 other state newspaper associations using Column to power its public notice website. Along with its press association partnerships, Column is live in all 50 states.
Continued to Page 2
“It’s such a help for the teachers who utilize these programs,” she said. “Newspapers expose young people to so many new things happening now that aren’t in textbooks.
As a teacher, she participated in The Tulsa World’s Newspapers in Education (NIE) program. Every week she would get a new stack of newspapers at no charge to help her mostly under-privileged students learn a little bit more about the world.
Newspapers explore ways to engage young readers
New APA public notice website now live statewide
Margaret Underwood has donated to the Harrison Daily Times for quite some time. She reads the newspaper, of course, but the donation is for something else entirely.
APA partnered with tech company Column earlier this year to create the new website. “Our new public notice website is a great improvement for our members and the general public,” said APA Executive Director Ashley Kemp Wimberley. “This website bolsters the power of public notice in printed newspapers. All notices on the site are searchable, and having them in one location furthers our goal of increasing government transparency.”
“I think I’ve given money every year for their program that puts newspapers in classrooms,” Underwood said. “I have given them money since they first started doing it”. Underwood, now retired, taught for decades in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She moved to Harrison after retiring when she was reacquainted with a childhood friend. They fell in love and married.
Right now, the Harrison Daily Times’ NIE program alone is capable of supporting more than 1,200 students in 68 classrooms. Newspapers use a variety of different methods to provide NIE programs. Phillips Media is, of course, not alone in offering NIE programs in Arkansas. WEHCO Media is another newspaper group that offers similar services to teachers and students.
“We offer this program to keep the teachers and the students informed and have the educational resources they need,” she said. “We also have other resources like anti-bullying educational materials and critical thinking exercises.”
One year, Underwood had her students theoretically purchase stocks, and they would follow the stocks in their regular supply of newspapers. Some students were very theoretically wealthy at the end of the year. “It really was wonderful,” she added. “They enjoyed it so much and hopefully some of them have continued to read the Phillipsnewspaper.”Media, which owns the Harrison Daily Times, offers NIE at all 14 of its paid publications. The company provides digital access and/or print copies to local educators at no cost to the school or the “Lastteacher.year we worked with more than 500 classrooms providing access to our newspapers along with access to some curriculum support materials,” said Jason McNeely, director of circulation for Phillips PhillipsMedia. Media generates funds for the program through event fundraising, advertising sponsorships and subscriber donations such as Underwood’s. “I enjoy writing a column each week aimed toward the needs of our students,” Donna Braymer, business editor and NIE content director at the Harrison Daily Times, said. “The NIE columns originally started out featuring a character word of the week. Now we’ve expanded into monthly themes of good citizenship, study habits or quotations of encouragement from authors like Jon Gordon. There are times when we focus on the accomplishments of famous people who are recognized during that month. It’s a pleasure having a few moments of input into a student’s life which will hopefully shape them into a lifelong learner and reader of the newspaper.”
Ashley Phillips, content director for WEHCO’s NIE program, said their program utilizes primarily digital content as the company has shifted to its iPad program with only one weekend print edition. WEHCO partners with a third party, NIEonline, to offer its service.
From adding child-friendly content to a print edition, to offering specialized educational content online, newspaper across the state and country use numerous methods to deliver news content to the classrooms.
“My goal with the NIE page is to familiarize a student with the printed newspaper,” said Lynn Blevins, Harrison Daily Times managing editor. “By the time they have worked with a newspaper for 12 years, they are used to looking at it to get their reliable news. Students learn to get their news from a trusted source. We are the gold standard. Television gives them a two-minute sound bite. We give them the whole story.”
NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS ARKANSAS CONNECTIONNEWSPAPER Are you hiring? Let us know! The Arkansas Newspaper Connection is a weekly newsletter published by APA connecting freelance and independent writers, editors, photographers and designers with Arkansas newspapers in need. The publication also lists available job openings and other opportunities at Arkansas newspapers and associate member organizations. Newspapers explore ways to engage young readers Arkansas Publisher Weekly 2 September 1, 2022 Continued from Page 1
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, according to Phillips, currently has 94 active teachers in its program, which doesn’t include teachers associated with other WEHCO media outlets.
“We have a whole website (nieonline. com/adgnie) set up for teachers to utilize,” Phillips said. “I send an email out about a month in advance of the school year to get the teachers set up for their classrooms. Our program also allows each student to access our news content and educational resources whenever the teachers allow during class.”
THROWBACK THURSDAY
Arkansas Publisher Weekly 3 September 1, 2022
A look back at Apollo, as Artemis prepares to travel to the moon.
Arkansas Press Freedom Gala to be held October 20
Golden 50 Service Awards will be presented to John Brummett, longtime Arkansas columnist, and Walter E. Hussman, Jr., Chairman of WEHCO Media, Inc. and publisher of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The Gala begins at 6 p.m. with a cocktail reception and the dinner and program begin at 7 p.m. More information can be found starting on page 10 in this edition of Arkansas Publisher Weekly. Visit arkansaspress. org/events to purchase tickets.
The first Arkansas Press Freedom Gala will be held Thursday, Oct. 20 at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. “The event will be a celebration of both the free press as we head into our 150th year as an association, and of individuals who have supported journalism and brought positive headlines to the state of Arkansas,” said APA Executive Director Ashley Kemp Wimberley. “A strong press keeps democracy strong.”
Governor Asa Hutchinson will receive the 2020 Headliner of the Year Award and Hunter Yurachek, vice chancellor and director of athletics at University of Arkansas, will receive the 2021 Headliner of the Year Award.
The Distinguished Service Award will be presented to Craig Renaud and the late Brent Renaud, documentary filmmakers best known for their character-driven, cinema verite documentaries like “Dope Sick Love,” “Last Chance High,” “Off to War” and “Meth Storm.” Brent Renaud was the first American journalist killed in Ukraine in 2022, while documenting the refugee crisis.
A R K A N S A S P R E S S A S S O C I A T I O N
On July 17, 1969, the Arkansas Gazette reserved nearly its entire front page for the Apollo mission that sent Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to the moon. Fifty-six years later, NASA’s Artemis program is getting ready to send humans back to the lunar surface. Artemis I experienced recent weather and mechanical setbacks, and must wait at least until Monday, Sept. 5, for another launch window. This launch will not have a crew, but if all goes as planned, NASA intends to have astronauts – including the first female astronaut – walking on the moon in 2025.
“He was a high school student writing about Dover sports for The Dover Times”, Ginnie Tyson, former owner and publisher, said. “His love of his community and of sports carried throughout his life.”
Continued on Page 5
“Our bipartisan legislation ensures media outlets will be able to engage in good faith negotiations to receive fair compensation from the Big Tech companies that profit from their news content, allowing journalists to continue their critical work of keeping communities informed.”
Arkansas Publisher Weekly 4 September 1, 2022
“Across the country, local newspapers and broadcasters play a critical role in informing the public, ensuring accountability, and promoting civic engagement. Unfortunately, they lack the market power to negotiate with the dominant online platforms for ad dollars, leaving newsrooms with fewer resources to do their critical work,” said Durbin, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “The JCPA will help solve this problem, allowing local newspapers and broadcasters to band together and level the playing field so we can ensure that local news remains
“Local papers are the heart and soul of journalism, and they break the news that millions of Americans rely on every day,” said Kennedy, Senate Judiciary Committee member and original sponsor of the JCPA.
Paul Scheible, a Dover native, journalist and photographer, passed away Aug. 11 at the age of 45.
sil22a02.pdf7BF7A217968D95D8CE417B93C06C.debb-41b4-8c19-da7090159e30/60AAgov/public/_cache/files/0/2/02edbc26-
Scheible was preceded in death by his grandparents, Arthur and Vergie Scheible of Dover, and Olen and Ruth Thomas of Danville.
Paul—30—Scheible
“As the daughter of a newspaperman, I understand firsthand the vital role that a free press plays in strengthening our democracy. But local news is facing an existential crisis in our country, with ad revenues plummeting and newspapers closing. To preserve strong, independent journalism, we have to make sure news organizations are able to negotiate on a level playing field with the online platforms that have come to dominate news distribution and digital advertising,” said Klobuchar, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust and Consumer Rights.
He is survived by his parents, James Milton and Janna Ruth Thomas Scheible; his sister and brother-in-law, Laura and Ben Bandimere; along with numerous aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.
Note: The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act would allow news organizations to jointly negotiate fair terms for access to their content by Google, Facebook, and other dominant platforms.
Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN); Senator John Kennedy (R-LA); Representative David Cicilline (D-RI); Representative Ken Buck (R-CO); and Senate and House Judiciary Committee Chairs Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) recently released a revised and expanded version of the bipartisan Journalism Competition and Preservation Act to address dominant online platforms’ power over news organizations. The bill removes legal obstacles to news organizations’ ability to negotiate collectively and secure fair terms from gatekeeper platforms that regularly access news content without paying for its value. The legislation also allows news publishers to demand arbitration if they reach an impasse in those negotiations. The revised bill can be found at https://www.klobuchar.senate.
“However, tech giants like Facebook and Google are hammering local publications by keeping them from making a profit on Big Tech platforms—and it’s killing local journalism. This bill supports the little guy by allowing local news providers to better negotiate with tech companies for the earnings they deserve.”
“Our democracy is strongest when a free and diverse press can inform citizens and hold power to account,” said Cicilline, Chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law. “But today, the free press is in economic freefall—especially local news— thanks to the free-riding of dominant online platforms, who seize news content to enrich their platforms but never pay for the labor and investment required to report the news. We would never expect a platform to stream movies without paying a film’s creators. But because Google and Facebook simply take news content for free and have monopolized the digital advertising market, newsrooms today are in dire economic peril—with regional and local news publishers downsizing or shuttering at alarming pace. The moment is urgent. At a time when journalism is more important than ever, the press is facing an extinction-level event. Congress must act.”
“The Founders envisioned a free press informing democracy,” said Buck, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law. “The Republic needs a media environment that features real information to allow voters to make informed decisions about its affairs.
Allowing local news to band together to negotiate with Big Tech through the JCPA is a reasonable step to ensure that these outlets remain available to provide fair, balanced information to the electorate.”
Scheible wrote sports for The Dover Times. He enjoyed photography and capturing special moments for his family and friends. “Paul loved people, sports and photography,” Sam Strasner, director of media relations at Arkansas Tech University, said. “He combined those interests to bring joy into the communities in which he lived. Even though he had moved away, it had become commonplace in recent years for him to pop in at Tucker Coliseum and photograph Arkansas Tech basketball when he was home for his holiday break.”
JCPA updates improve negotiating power
Arkansas Publisher Weekly 5 September 1, 2022 a strong, reliable source of information for years to come.”
“Today, more than half of the country has just one local newspaper or no newspaper at all,” said Nadler, Chair of the House Judiciary Committee. “The consequences are bad for everyone: fewer local news providers translates to unchecked governmental corruption, corporate misconduct, and widespread misinformation, plus a raft of other consequences for citizens, taxpayers, and our democracy. The free and diverse press needs a level playing field to do its job. This bill simply provides that level playing field, allowing news publishers to fairly negotiate with dominant online platforms. We have worked on a bipartisan and bicameral basis to strengthen and improve the bill over the past year, and I look forward to marking it up when Congress returns in September.”
Continued from Page 4 after six months.
the story of our state’s #1 industry.
● Require covered platforms—which are online platforms that have at least 50 million U.S.-based users or subscribers and are owned or controlled by a person that has either net annual sales or market capitalization greater than $550 billion or at least 1 billion worldwide monthly active users—to negotiate in good faith with the eligible news organizations.
● Sunset within eight years.
Public Relations Contacts Steve Eddington 501-228-1383 | steve.eddington@arfb.com Rob Anderson 501-228-1640 | rob.anderson@arfb.com
Agriculture isEssential
● Prohibit retaliation by a covered platform against eligible digital journalism providers for participating in joint negotiations or arbitration and provide a private right of action for violations of this prohibition.
● Prohibit discrimination by a joint negotiation entity or a covered platform against an eligible digital journalism provider based on its size or the view expressed in its content and provide a private right of action for violations of this prohibition.
● Empower eligible digital journalism providers—that is, news publishers with fewer than 1,500 exclusive fulltime employees and non-network news broadcasters that engage in standard newsgathering practices—to form joint negotiation entities to collectively negotiate with a covered platform over the terms and conditions of the covered platform’s access to digital news content.
● Enable non-broadcaster news publishers to demand final-offer arbitration if their joint negotiation with a covered platform fails to result in an agreement
JCPA updates improve negotiating power
For photos, video, news, commentary and more, visit www.ArFB.com
As revised, the JCPA would:
● Create a limited safe harbor from federal and state antitrust laws for eligible digital journalism providers that allows them to participate in joint negotiations and arbitration and, as part of those negotiations, to jointly withhold their content from a covered platform.
Telling
I suspect Mr. Jacobi’s actions have been motivated in large part by a desire to discourage me from requesting more information or shining any more light into dark corners where the Eureka Springs city government is concerned.
I jumped the gun in this space a couple of weeks ago, it seems. I only thought Eureka Springs city attorney Forrest Jacobi had come to his senses regarding the city’s attempts to overcharge me for responding to a Freedom of Information Act request. As it turns out, Mr. Jacobi was simply working in silence to double down on his ridiculous attempt to stymie my reporting on Eureka Springs city government. Without repeating the original story, I’ll give you the Cliff’s Notes: I filed a fairly broad request for electronic information; city officials insisted that the information had to be manually redacted in hard-copy form; attempted to charge me 10 cents a page for nearly 2,100 pages; grew spiteful when I refused to pay that amount; and then finally appeared to give in and let me inspect the documents and take photos without charging me a dime.
Along with the invoice, Mr. Jacobi cited a portion of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act that allows respondents to bill requesters for the cost of personnel time in responding to FOIA requests — and here’s the key part — under narrow circumstances in which the requester has asked for information to be provided “in an electronic format to which it is not readily convertible.”
This whole episode has created a little buzz among journalists around the state, and it may ultimately prove to be more than a little embarrassing for Mr. Jacobi and for the city of Eureka Springs. That’s a shame, but it could have been avoided.
Unfortunately for Mr. Jacobi, as he will likely soon learn, trying to intimidate me or our newspapers is a fool’s errand.
By Scott Loftis, Editor, Carroll
I naively equated all that to a victory in principle. Then I arrived at work one morning last week to be informed that Mr. Jacobi had sent our parent company, CherryRoad Media, an invoice for nearly $17,000 for responding to our FOIA requests dating back to 2019.
Scott Loftis is managing editor for Carroll County Newspapers. His email address is SLoftis@cherryroad.com. Reprinted with permission.
County Newspapers
Everyone agreed that Mr. Jacobi’s invoice is preposterous and worthless.
In fact, the portion of the law that Mr. Jacobi cited is included in a section titled: “Special requests for electronic information.” That doesn’t apply to any request I’ve ever made of the Eureka Springs city government.
Arkansas Publisher Weekly 6 September 1, 2022 Guest Editorial: A fool’s errand
I will acknowledge that I have filed a lot of FOIA requests with the Eureka Springs city government over the years. It’s my job and the mission of our newspapers to keep our readers informed about what’s going on within their government, and when transparency is lacking, the FOIA is an important tool in bringing public information to light. I have no doubt that fulfilling FOIA requests isn’t especially entertaining for city officials, but the law is clear that the public has a right to certain information. The law is also clear about how the public can be charged for access to that information.
I immediately reached out to the Arkansas Press Association’s director and attorney, as well as to Ellen Kreth, the owner and publisher of the Madison County Record in Huntsville whose FOIA-based journalism has won multiple national awards.
$1 THESCHOLARSHIPSCOLLEGERAISEDBILLION+FOR.FUTURE’SLOOKINGBRIGHTINARKANSAS! SCAN TO LEARN MORE SCHOLARSHIPS.ABOUT Since 2009, the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery has helped raise more than $1 billion in scholarship proceeds for Arkansas students. All over our state there are professionals who got their start with one of three lottery-funded scholarships. Together, lottery players and retailers are empowering students and creating winning futures!
Therefore, in mid-June, we worked with Joey Young and his staff at Harvey County Now in south-central Kansas to launch a business model that emphasizes memberships, e-newsletters and events to test-run how this model could work for other weekly newspapers. Harvey County Now will continue to sell advertising and run other revenue streams but will prioritize this new model called Press Club for the next year. Readers will still be able to purchase a regular subscription for $60 a year. However, they can now also pay an additional $60 to become a member of Press Club. (Still a bargain only asking readers for the equivalent of $2.31 a week but this is a starting point on the road to increasing circulation Newspapersrevenue.)across the country can do whatever spin and pricing they like to form their own Press Clubs and think
You work way too hard for that and provide way too valuable of a product for that.
One can’t buy a bottle of pop, coffee or a candy bar for $1 anymore, yet newsrooms consistently devalue themselves by begging people to pay pennies for their product and showing how cheap they are.
By Dr. Teri Finneman, Assoicate professor of Journalism, University of Kentucky Andrew Jackson was president when the business model still predominantly used by the newspaper industry today was invented. Let that sink in for a minute. I mean, really sink Andrew.in. Jackson. Was. President. And we wonder why the newspaper industry’s finances aren’t well. I’m a journalism historian at the University of Kansas and frequently talk about the importance of historical context. So, let’s talk about it.
And yet, 200 years after the penny press model started, numerous weekly newspapers continue to only charge $1 per issue. Let’s talk about that. $1 an issue. That’s 14 cents a day per reader for that week’s content. FOURTEEN.
Launching a New Model
Here’s what we found: There is a significant disconnect between what publishers say the model should be and what readers say they are willing to support. While publishers were overwhelmingly in favor of keeping the 1800s model of advertising, print subscriptions and legal notices, readers instead had different (and more modern) priorities: events, print subscriptions, e-newsletters and memberships. The reader responses really aren’t surprising. In small towns, a common refrain is “There’s nothing to do” and, historically, newspapers have served as a centralized community gathering. Regular consumers sign up for all kinds of memberships nowadays. And readers, even more so since the pandemic, are now used to getting immediate information rather than waiting a week.
In 1833, Benjamin Day started The New York Sun, the first penny press newspaper. This 23-year-old challenged the prior business model, which charged a steeper 6 cents for a newspaper. He reduced the price to 1 cent and turned the tables so that advertising from the nation’s growing business sector would instead provide the bulk of newspaper revenue.
This narrative must turn around. It is simply no longer logical for journalists in 2022 to be asking readers to only pay 14 cents a day to support local news, and readers need to be told so in those terms.
When a local store closes, odds are high there’s another with similar merchandise within 60 miles. When a local newspaper closes, there is no replacement. At all.
Furthermore, in this age of misinformation and disinformation, journalists should be stepping up public relations and differentiating themselves by telling the public that, if they pay for information, they can better guarantee that it was professionally done and accurate.
Arkansas Publisher Weekly 8 September 1, 2022 Guest Column: Beyond the 1800s: Revenue model emphasizes moving past penny press era
The problem is clear and one that researcher Penny Abernathy has tabulated: The nation has 1,800 fewer newspapers than it did almost 20 years ago. Pew’s own research notes there were 30,000 fewer newsroom employees in 2020 than in 2008 –and that’s data before the pandemic’s full effect. Additional research has found over and over again how problematic that is for the civic nature of a community, for the upholding of democracy, for the historical preservation of a community, for the social capital of community ties.
It’s why I’m leading a research project looking to change the model for rural weeklies.
The Need to Be Proactive
InCENTS.200years, the cost of many a newspaper has gone up only 99 cents despite the fact that journalists are immensely more professionalized and accurate than those in the 1800s – and that virtually no other product around in the 1800s that still exists today has only gone up 99 cents.
Identifying new revenue potential now is critical to avoid even further possible disaster in the future.
Not to mention, it’s hard to know what the future of legal notices may bring.
In the past six months, I’ve partnered with Pat Ferrucci of the University of Colorado-Boulder and Nick Mathews of the University of Minnesota to conduct significant research to guide us in creating a new business model. We’ve received input from about 600 people throughout the Dakotas, Nebraska and Kansas.
I’m quite sure Day himself would be flabbergasted to know the newspaper industry is still using the same cheap subscription/advertising reliant business model nearly 200 years later.
About 50 people attended the Press Club launch event in mid-June, including at least five people who had just moved to the community this summer, saw the ad and story in the paper/on Facebook and were hoping to meet new friends. The newspaper has secured early corporate sponsors eager to partner and get local residents inside their businesses for a
about what perks they could offer under a membership platform. It could be as simple as a coffee mug, T-shirt, discount card to local businesses, an annual Press Club luncheon, etc. When creating their Press Club, Harvey County Now first identified a crucial gap in its community: Little to do at night and on the weekends, and young people who struggle socially living in smaller communities. Therefore, its Press Club will function as a social club. Members will have exclusive access to monthly mingles, activity opportunities and group field trips. While this may sound like a lot for a newspaper to take on, Harvey County Now has created a cooperative structure that minimizes its time commitment. In addition to selling individual Press Club memberships, the newspaper is also selling corporate sponsorships for about $1,500 per year.
The business sponsor receives some individual memberships for employees, publicity from the newspaper and serves as host of a monthly mingle in charge of all food, drinks, etc., for that event. For the field trips, Harvey County Now is reaching out to a local brewery for a tour for Press Club members, as one example. In other words, the newspaper is using its connections in the community to create opportunities for Press Club members, with its sponsors taking turns doing most of the on-the-ground-work while the newspaper sells the access and generates the Press Club profit.
Furthermore,mingle. the newspaper is in the process of revamping its e-newsletter and what the future may bring with sponsorships and additional readership there. It’s an experiment that is just starting and that will be tracked in the months to come. A modified version of Press Club will also launch at another rural weekly this fall to see how it fares in a smaller community. We’ll be reporting out as the year goes along and keeping track of the successes and challenges of this Press Club experiment. The overall goal is to try something. Because doing nothing is not a viable future for the next generation of journalists. Dr. Teri Finneman is an associate professor of journalism at the University of Kansas and founder/publisher/editor of The Eudora Times. She is spending 18 months analyzing how weekly newspapers can bring in more revenue through a grantfunded research project.
Beyond the 1800s: Revenue model emphasizes moving past penny press era Arkansas Publisher Weekly 9 September 1, 2022
$200 each or Table of 8 for $1,500 To purchase tickets or a table, visit: arkansaspress.org/events.
Statehouse Convention Center in the Wally Allen Ballroom
Cocktail/Formal (black tie optional)
101 East Markham Street, Little Rock, AR 72201
Cocktail Reception at 6 p.m. | Dinner & Program at 7 p.m.
DetailsEvent
Thursday, October 20
Cocktail/Formal (black tie optional)
Statehouse Convention Center in the Wally Allen Ballroom
Thursday, October 20
$200 each or Table of 8 for $1,500 To purchase tickets or a table, visit: arkansaspress.org/events.
Thursday, October 20
Cocktail Reception at 6 p.m. | Program at 7 p.m.
Cocktail/Formal (black tie optional)
DetailsEvent
101 East Markham Street, Little Rock, AR 72201
Statehouse Convention Center in the Wally Allen Ballroom
DetailsEvent
$200 each or Table of 8 for $1,500 To purchase tickets or a table, visit: arkansaspress.org/events.
101 East Markham Street, Little Rock, AR 72201
Cocktail Reception at 6 p.m. | Program at 7 p.m.
(Continued)
President Ronald Reagan appointed Governor Hutchinson as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas. In 1996, he won the first of three successive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. During his third term in Congress, President George W. Bush appointed him director of the Drug Enforcement Administration and later as an undersecretary in the newly created Department of Homeland Security.
Since December 2017 Yurachek has worked tirelessly to foster athletics success in 19 sports, restore the tradition of a storied program and enhance the student-athlete experience for 465 student-athletes.
Governor Hutchinson grew up on a small farm in Gravette. He is a graduate of the University of Arkansas law school. He and his wife, Susan, have been married 49 years. They have four children and seven grandchildren.
In the 2021-22 academic year, Arkansas recorded the most successful collective year in the program’s history, winning eight Southeastern Conference championships and finishing seventh in the Learfield IMG Directors’ Cup, the competition that tracks the nation’s most successful intercollegiate athletics programs. This bested the eighth place finish Razorback Athletics posted in 2020-21. Arkansas’s previous best finish prior to 2020-21 was 14th in the competition.
The Razorbacks finished first among programs with 19 or fewer sports, second among SEC schools and earned only its second top-10 Directors’ Cup finish, following a then-record eighth place finish in 2020-21. Despite sponsoring only 19 sport programs, Arkansas
theAboutHonorees
Asa Hutchinson is the 46th governor of the State of Arkansas. In 2018, he was re-elected with 65% of the vote, having received more votes than any other candidate for governor in the state’s history.
He has won recognition for the state as a leader in computer science education, cut taxes by over $250 million, and signed a law that exempts the retirement pay of veterans from state income tax.
Headliner of the Year
The Governor is the former Chairman of the National Governors Association. He is also the former co-chair of the Council of Governors and the former chairman of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC), Southern States Energy Board (SSEB) and the Southern Regional Education Board.
His experience has established him as a national resource for his expertise on trade, energy, national security and education. The governor has been invited to the White House several times to join discussions about health care, Medicaid and education issues.
2021 Headliner of the Year Hunter Yurachek, Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics University of Arkansas
In his fifth full year as vice chancellor and director of athletics at the University of Arkansas, Hunter Yurachek has solidified the Razorbacks as one of the nation’s elite intercollegiate athletics programs.
2020 Headliner of the Year
Asa Hutchinson, Governor of Arkansas
Renaud Brothers
Distinguished Service Award
Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson named Yurachek to the Governor’s Economic Recovery Task Force to help guide state reopening in the wake of COVID-19. In April 2021, Yurachek was named to the NCAA Football Oversight Committee, after previously serving on the NCAA Football Competition Committee
Craig and Brent Renaud, Documentary Filmmakers, Television Producers and Film Programmers
The Renaud Brothers are best known for their character driven, cinema verité documentaries like Dope Sick Love, Last Chance High, Off to War and Meth Storm. The Renauds also co-founded the Little Rock Film Festival, which was named one of the top film festivals in the country by Filmmaker Magazine.
earned a total of nine top-10 NCAA finishes and 12 top-20 NCAA finishes. In the classroom, Razorback student-athletes earned a program-record 3.27 GPA and a total of 97 Razorback student-athletes earned their degrees in the 2021-22 academic year. The University of Arkansas and Yurachek are being nationally recognized for those accomplishments. Yurachek was selected as a 202122 Football Bowl Subdivision Cushman & Wakefield Athletics Director of the Year by his peers, and was also a finalist for the Sports Business Journal 2022 Athletics Director of the Year.
Hunter Yurachek, Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics University of Arkansas Brent Renaud pictured in a Libyan Desert. Photo courtesy of Jeff Newton.
Brent Renaud was the first American journalist killed in Ukraine in 2022, while documenting the refugee crisis. The Renaud Brothers’ work has won a Peabody Award, two Columbia DuPont Awards, two Overseas Press Club Awards, an IDA award, a Webby and an Edward R. Murrow Award. Craig Renaud is currently in production on a number of film projects, including a documentary about his late brother Brent and a national PBS series called Southern Storytellers.
Back in Little Rock in 1994, he became exclusively a columnist for the surviving Arkansas-Democrat-Gazette, leaving in 2000 to become a columnist for the Arkansas New Bureau of Stephens Media. He returned in 2011 to the Democrat-Gazette as a contract columnist, and he continues in that role today.
In a David-versus-Goliath battle that few predicted he would survive, Hussman went head-to-head with the established, dominant Arkansas Gazette and won. Earlier in 1974, Hussman persuaded his father to buy the Arkansas Democrat, the afternoon daily newspaper in Little Rock. After a protracted and heated newspaper war, legal battles and even with the sale of the Arkansas Gazette to Gannett in 1986, Hussman emerged the winner and bought the assets of the rival newspaper in 1991, creating the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
He has won many state column-writing awards, a few regional ones and two national ones from the association of state Capitol Inreporters.2017,he was inducted into the Arkansas Writers Hall of Fame.
In December 1969, a few days after his 16th birthday, John Brummett , a junior at McClellan High School in Little Rock and sports editor of his school newspaper, went to work part-time for the then-afternoon Arkansas Democrat in the sports department.
Back in Little Rock in 1994, he became exclusively a columnist for the surviving Arkansas-Democrat-Gazette, leaving in 2000 to become a columnist for the Arkansas New Bureau of Stephens Media. He returned in 2011 to the Democrat-Gazette as a contract columnist, and he continues in that role today.
Golden 50 Service Award
In December 1969, a few days after his 16th birthday, John Brummett , a junior at McClellan High School in Little Rock and sports editor of his school newspaper, went to work part-time for the then-afternoon Arkansas Democrat in the sports department.
Golden 50 Service Award
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Walter E. Hussman, Jr., a third-generation newspaperman, was born January 5, 1947, in Texarkana and grew up in Camden. His father was publisher of the Camden News, and his grandfather was publisher of the Texarkana Gazette. Hussman earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina and an M.B.A. from Columbia University in New York. He began his carerer as a reporter for Forbes magazine but returned to Arkansas in September, 1970 to work in the family business, and became general manager of the Camden News in 1971.
In a David-versus-Goliath battle that few predicted he would survive, Hussman went head-to-head with the established, dominant Arkansas Gazette and won. Earlier in 1974, Hussman persuaded his father to buy the Arkansas Democrat, the afternoon daily newspaper in Little Rock. After a protracted and heated newspaper war, legal battles and even with the sale of the Arkansas Gazette to Gannett in 1986, Hussman emerged the winner and bought the assets of the rival newspaper in 1991, creating the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
John Brummett, Columnist
He has won many state column-writing awards, a few regional ones and two national ones from the association of state Capitol Inreporters.2017,he was inducted into the Arkansas Writers Hall of Fame.
He has worked continuously since—more than 52 years—for newspapers or news services in Arkansas.
Walter E. Hussman, Jr., Chairman of WEHCO Media, Inc.
Today, WEHCO Media operates 10 daily newspapers, eight weekly newspapers and nine cable television companies in six states. Hussman was named Publisher of the Year by Editor & Publisher magazine in 2009. He was a member of the board of directors of The Associated Press from 2000 to 2009 and C-SPAN from 1995 to 2003. Hussman championed education and after-school programs in Little Rock and the state of Arkansas. He also served on the Arkansas Arts Center board of directors, on the board of the Arkansas Repertory Theater and on the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Society board of directors. While on the symphony board, he started Pops on the River, a patriotic symphony and fireworks show on the Arkansas River in Little Rock each 4th of July. In 2017, the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media was named in recognition of four generations of the family committed to journalism.
Today, WEHCO Media operates 10 daily newspapers, eight weekly newspapers and nine cable television companies in six states. Hussman was named Publisher of the Year by Editor & Publisher magazine in 2009. He was a member of the board of directors of The Associated Press from 2000 to 2009 and C-SPAN from 1995 to 2003. Hussman championed education and after-school programs in Little Rock and the state of Arkansas. He also served on the Arkansas Arts Center board of directors, on the board of the Arkansas Repertory Theater and on the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Society board of directors. While on the symphony board, he started Pops on the River, a patriotic symphony and fireworks show on the Arkansas River in Little Rock each 4th of July. In 2017, the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media was named in recognition of four generations of the family committed to journalism.
He has worked continuously since—more than 52 years—for newspapers or news services in Arkansas.
John Brummett, Columnist
Walter E. Hussman, Jr., Chairman of WEHCO Media, Inc. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Walter E. Hussman, Jr., a third-generation newspaperman, was born January 5, 1947, in Texarkana and grew up in Camden. His father was publisher of the Camden News, and his grandfather was publisher of the Texarkana Gazette. Hussman earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina and an M.B.A. from Columbia University in New York. He began his carerer as a reporter for Forbes magazine but returned to Arkansas in September, 1970 to work in the family business, and became general manager of the Camden News in 1971.
While attending the University of Central Arkansas, he was sports editor of the Log Cabin Democrat in Conway and later a news reporter for the paper. He joined the Arkansas Gazette in July 1977 as a statedesk general assignment reporter. He became a state Capitol reporter for the paper in 1980, and, as the newspaper war between the Gazette and Democrat heated up, a columnist beginning in 1986. He became a senior editor of the Arkansas Times and Arkansas Business in 1990 while also a contract columnist for the Democrat. Then, in 1993, he wrote columns both for the Democrat and Times while in Washington writing a book, called “Highwire,” about Bill Clinton’s first year as president.
He worked before school, from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., helping produce the afternoon sports pages. He covered local high school sports events in the evenings and local golf, tennis and swimming events in summer.
He worked before school, from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., helping produce the afternoon sports pages. He covered local high school sports events in the evenings and local golf, tennis and swimming events in summer.
While attending the University of Central Arkansas, he was sports editor of the Log Cabin Democrat in Conway and later a news reporter for the paper. He joined the Arkansas Gazette in July 1977 as a statedesk general assignment reporter. He became a state Capitol reporter for the paper in 1980, and, as the newspaper war between the Gazette and Democrat heated up, a columnist beginning in 1986. He became a senior editor of the Arkansas Times and Arkansas Business in 1990 while also a contract columnist for the Democrat. Then, in 1993, he wrote columns both for the Democrat and Times while in Washington writing a book, called “Highwire,” about Bill Clinton’s first year as president.
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