Arkansas Publisher Weekly: September 15, 2022

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Arkansas Press Freedom Gala tickets RQ VDOH

Guest Column: Keep eye out for 11th-hour election volleys

Arkansas Press Association

Publisher Weekly

By Jim Pumarlo

Vol.17 | No. 37 | Thursday, September 15, 2022 | Serving Press and State Since 1873

Feldman reflects on his first year of leading The Leader On the front page of the August 24 edition of The Leader, publisher and editor Jonathan Feldman announced the return of sports and editorials to the weekly. He also announced daily breaking news online, an online-only extra edition of sports coverage and the switch to mail delivery.

Feldman took over as publisher of the newspaper after his father, Garrick Feldman, passed away last December. Garrick and Eileen Feldman started The Leader, located in Jacksonville, in 1987 to serve the communities of northern Pulaski County.

“My goal is for the newspaper to stay relevant and keep reporting interesting stories,” Feldman said. “I want to keep a feisty newsroom, and improve it at the same time. My dad wanted to cover as much community news as was humanly possible. That’s what he did, and that’s what he’d want now.”

Feldman was born and raised in Arkansas and graduated high school in Little Rock. He moved to New York in 1999 for college and stayed there for nine years. The urge to move back home came when he got married. “We wanted to start a family, and it was impractical to start a family in New York,” he said.

“It seemed like a good time to move home, and I told my dad I wanted to help at the newspaper,” he said. “I was 28 when I moved home. I was an editor in the newsroom the whole Continued on Page 2

Jonathan Feldman

Deadline to file ownership statement quickly approaching APA member newspapers who send Periodicals Class Mail must file an annual Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation (PS Form 3526) with the U.S. Postal Service by Friday, Sept. 30.

Upon filing the ownership statement with the

local postmaster, publication owners are required to publish the statement according to the timetable below.

Publications issued more frequently than weekly must publish no later than Oct. 10. This applies to daily, semiweekly, and three-times-per-week publications.

Publications issued weekly or less frequently, but not less than monthly, must publish the statement by Oct. 31. This includes weekly newspapers.

All other publications such as quarterlies must publish in the first issue after Oct. 1.

Owners may include paid digital subscriptions as circulation in postal statements. A paid subscriber, whether digital or print, may only be counted once. Form 3526 serves as the method for the U.S. Postal Service to establish whether a publication meets standards for the periodicals mailing rates. The form is available at about.usps.com/forms/ps3526.pdf.

Feldman reflects on his first year of leading The Leader Continued from Page 1

time, and now I’m 42 and picking up the publisher duties from my dad.”

editor and more reporters so he can focus more heavily on the business side.

Garrick Feldman was largely handling the business side up until he passed.

“I had just started doing payroll a couple of months before his death,” Feldman said. “Just when I started taking on more responsibility, he got his diagnosis. It was a challenging transition while we were dealing with the loss.”

The biggest project he’s working on now is switching over to mail delivery, which will cut the newspaper’s delivery costs in half. “We held off on mail delivery for a while until we could assure that the newspaper would be delivered the same day as publication,” he said. “The readers and advertisers have said they like getting the newspaper with their mail, but we weren’t going to have a delay.”

Feldman’s history in his family’s newsroom started well before he returned home from college. “I had to go cover a ribbon-cutting of a new Starbucks opening in Jacksonville,” Feldman said. “This was at the start of the financial crisis when Starbucks stores were closing all around the country. It was not an easy subject to make exciting, but I pulled it off. The same year there was a guy with an assault rifle shooting up a neighborhood in Jacksonville. I followed the cops as they tried to move on the house and neutralize him. My dad and I wrote that story together and we won news story of the year in the APA Better Newspaper Editorial Contest.”

Feldman believes he is in a good position running the whole business now, after working so closely with his dad over the years. “I get to multitask now,” he said. “I get to manage so much of it. I just know how to get a nose into different corners of the business.”

He is, however, looking forward to reaching a point where he can hire an

Feldman said the switch to same-day mail delivery is a good financial decision, but letting go of long-time delivery staff is hard. “We have some really great people who have been with us for a very long time, some since nearly the beginning,” he said. “It’s never easy.”

Another current project is improving the newspaper website and connecting more with readers and subscribers through social media. “I’d like to do more slideshows and do daily breaking news online,” he said.

A final big project at the newspaper is bringing back sports coverage. The decision to stop sports coverage earlier this year was a tough one, he said, but it was the right financial decision at the time. “We are a weekly and covering local sports in the summer on a weekly’s schedule just didn’t add up,” he said. ”But we’re bringing sports back now in a new way. We’re launching a Saturday e-edition of the The Leader

ARKANSAS NEWSPAPER CONNECTION 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.

that will be almost all sports. Any sports content that is still relevant will appear in our regular Wednesday print edition.“ The Leader had previously published a Saturday sports print edition, but Feldman said it just wasn’t economical to run all year. Just like the same-day mail for the delivery staff, Feldman had to reduce work for reporting staff when he stopped the Saturday sports print edition. He’s hopeful the e-edition will resolve these problems.

“It’s a stressful business, but I think we’re moving forward pretty well,” he said. “I really feel a duty to keep the paper going, to keep us relevant and to remain a valuable community asset.

“My parents started this business, so I watched them from the beginning,” he added. “People talk about the hard times for newspapers, but it’s always been a tough business – a lot of overhead, a lot of coordination and a lot of planning.”

So, are Feldman’s children interested in someday stepping into the publisher role? “I don’t know,” he said. “My oldest is thirteen. I do tell her I’m going to teach her InDesign and paste-up, and she does have an eye for detail and design. But right now it’s just me and my awesome staff.

“Maybe the family tradition will continue, but we’ve got a way to go before we need to think about that. In the meantime, I’m going to keep doing what my dad taught me and charting my own course.”

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September 15, 2022

Arkansas Press Freedom Gala tickets on sale

The first Arkansa Press Freedom Gala will be held Thursday, Oct. 20 at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock.

chancellor and director of athletics at University of Arkansas, will receive the 2021 Headliner of the Year Award.

Walter E. Hussman, Jr., chairman of WEHCO Media, Inc. and publisher of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

“The Gala is an importantat event for the Arkansas media industry, and ticket sales are reflecting that,” said APA Executive Director Ashley Kemp Wimberley. “The event will support the Arkanas Newspaper Foundation and its mission, and honor the award recipients.

We know it will be a wonderful evening.”

The evening will begin at 6 p.m. with a cocktail reception and the dinner and awards presentation will follow at 7 p.m.

To purchase tickets visit https://www. arkansaspress.org/event/FreedomGala.

The Distinguished Service Award will be presented to Craig Renaud and the late Brent Renaud, documentary filmmakers best known for their characterdriven, 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.

Governor Asa Hutchinson will receive the 2020 Headliner of the Year Award and Hunter Yurachek, vice

Golden 50 Service Awards will be presented to John Brummett, long-time Arkansas columnist, and

Tickets are $200 each or $1500 for a table of eight. Sponsorships are also available.

More information can be found starting on page 7 of this edition of Arkansas Publisher Weekly.

All proceeds benefit the Arkansas Newspaper Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and its mission of education and support for Arkansas newspapers.

ARKANSAS PRESS ASSOCIATION

THROWBACK THURSDAY

The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks left Americans reeling and grappling for information. Flights were grounded and travelers stranded nationwide, and long lines formed at gas stations in response to rumors of price-gouging and speculation about war. The Log Cabin Democrat in Conway, a morning newspaper, published an extra edition that afternoon to get accurate information out to readers as quickly as possible.

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September 15, 2022

The Mountaineer New study examines news attitudes Echo adds reporter and behaviors of Millennials, Gen Z A new in-depth study of 16- to 40-yearolds conducted by The Media Insight Project shows that members of the Gen Z and Millennial generations are active consumers of news and information, with nearly a third of them willing to pay for it.

The Mountaineer Echo in Flippin recently hired Peggy Mason as a staff reporter and photographer. Mason has been working as a freelance reporter and photographer for the past 14 months. A photo by Mason won the award for Best Front Page Photograph at the APA Better Newspaper Editorial Contest awards this past June.

Her primary duties will include photographing special events, covering sports and designing new columns.

She currently authors Cooking with Mumzy, Police Beat, Adventures on a Tankful and NCA Photo of the Week.

It was found that Millennials and Gen Z use traditional news outlets, not just social platforms. According to the study, 74% of 16- to 40-year-olds get news and information at least weekly from traditional news sources such as national or local newspapers and television stations, including their websites or apps, with 28% paying out of their own pocket for news content such as magazines, newspapers and news apps.

Paying for news also increases with age, as 36% of older Millennials are most likely to pay for news. In 2015, among Millennials then, 30% paid for the same types of news out of their own pocket.

A majority (61%) say they want the news media to be fair to all sides, to verify and get the facts right (69%), and to be neutral (57%). Almost as many (55%) say it is very or extremely important for the press

to provide diverse points of view. Slightly more than half consider it important for the press to help people understand communities unlike their own and to report on solutions to society’s problems.

Only 23% have a positive view of the news media generally or national news outlets particularly, but 35% have favorable attitudes toward local media outlets.

Nearly half believe media coverage of immigrants, Black Americans and Hispanic Americans is slightly or totally inaccurate.

These generations also report feeling digital fatigue and have adopted different tactics to combat it. While nine in 10 Millennials and Gen Z report being online more than two hours a day, three in 10 report feeling worse the longer they are connected.

“Fatigue, Traditionalism and Engagement: News Habits and Attitudes of the Gen Z and Millennial Generations” is the latest study from the Media Insight Project, a collaboration of the American Press Institute and The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs research.

To read visit

more

about this study, https://bit.ly/3BdnTM7

In the news article announcing her hiring, Mason stated, “I want to help make the newspaper the most informative paper in north central Arkansas. I am open to working with anybody to bring information to the readers of The Mountaineer Echo.”

INDUSTRY QUOTE “A good reader or viewer is a person who is alert about her newspaper or news channel.

A good reader or viewer will never waste her hard-earned money in watching or reading just anything. She is serious.

She will have to think if the news she is consuming is journalism or sycophancy.”

-Ravish Kumar Arkansas Publisher Weekly

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September 15, 2022

Guest Editorial: Decades in the business

By John Brummett

Originally published in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Republished with permission.

A gala that even raises the prospect of black-tie being an option sounds rather uppity of people whom the late Paul Greenberg famously called “inky wretches.”

But that’s what the Arkansas Press Association is throwing the evening of Thursday, Oct. 20, at the Statehouse Convention Center.

The excuse, or context, is that the APA usually puts on a modest annual convention at which a Headliner of the Year is named and makes a talk. Any Arkansas newspaper veterans working in their 50th year get pins.

But the pandemic kept any of that from happening as usual for the last two years.

So, the lost-year headliners—Gov. Asa Hutchinson and University of Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek—will highlight this gala by picking up their awards and making remarks.

The gala also will honor the heroic local Renaud brothers, Craig and Brent, real journalists of award-winning global documentary filmmaking. Brent was killed this year in Ukraine.

As a footnote to the gala, two people will get 52-year pins on account of not having had the opportunity to pick up 50-year or even 51-year ones.

One is the publisher of this newspaper, Walter E. Hussman, Jr..

The other is the inky wretch who started a few days after his 16th birthday as a part-time sportswriter at the old dying afternoon Arkansas Democrat, which the aforementioned Hussman soon bought and began to save and transform.

I’m thinking they ought to give Hussman credit for my improbable 52 years and just give him a special 104-year pin.

That’s especially so considering that he saved me again decades later when, after I’d abruptly left his employ in 2000 because something I can’t remember had ticked me off, I called him in 2011 and

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

said Stephens Media had dumped me because of the newspaper economy and all, and that I was wondering whether I’d burned my bridge.

It was either that or a lawn-service business, and I have a devil of a time threading an edger.

It is not every publisher of a struggling midmarket daily newspaper who would part with precious funds to retain—twice—a local commentator to write opinions that he disagrees with in his newspaper.

I must thank him. You probably blame him.

I also must assign some of my 52 years to the late John Ward and then to assorted higher-ups at the late, great and lamented Arkansas Gazette.

While cutting classes in the early 1970s at the University of Central Arkansas, I worked as sports editor of Conway’s Log Cabin Democrat. That was until Ward, the paper’s managing editor and a political veteran of the Rockefeller administration, told me I ought to try writing about politics.

Then, in the summer of ‘77, Ward called me to his desk and said the paper wasn’t doing me much good anymore--and vice versa--and that I should just go on home.

We’re not going to look at this as a firing, he said of the firing.

The next day, he called to say I had an interview in Oklahoma City with his old friend Jim Standard, managing editor of the Daily Oklahoman. He said I had an interview two days after that with the late Bob Douglas, managing editor of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Gazette in Little Rock.

Ward said he’d finally decided I didn’t have the gumption to make those calls myself.

Standard hired me for $195 a week. I said swell. We agreed on a start date.

Then I kept my appointment with Douglas at the Gazette. He said he was going to give me something the paper had never imposed on anyone else. That was a two-

5

day tryout on the state desk.

After all, he said, I had shown up for work in blue jeans. And I had answered “who can say?” when he asked what I hoped to be doing in five years. And, as he pointed out, there was the matter of my coming to him by reason of a recommendation from a man who had kind of fired me.

I walked into the newsroom and saw a nice-looking young fellow wearing loafers, khakis, a blue buttoned-down Oxford shirt and a loosened tie. I soon found out the young man was the affable and now sadly departed Ralph Patterson, the publisher’s son.

I said to myself, oh, so that’s the uniform.

I went out and bought three changes of the outfit and wore that--not those original pieces but the style and ensemble--for a career.

I passed the tryout and the Gazette hired me for $190 a week. I went straight to work. I forgot to tell Jim Standard in Oklahoma City.

I finally remembered that I had a deal with him and sheepishly called. He said he’d figured it out when he saw my byline on the Gazette’s front page.

Nearly 10 years later, with the Gazette in a newspaper war to the death with Hussman’s paper, the newsroom brain trust at the Gazette decided it needed a local politics columnist, and I was picked.

The rest adds up to 52 years, which is not a final sum but a running total.

P.S.—The gala officially celebrates oftabused and taken-for-granted press freedom, which is the best reason to throw it.

John Brummett, whose column appears regularly in the Arkansas DemocratGazette, is a member of the Arkansas Writers’ Hall of Fame. Email him at jbrummett@arkansasonline.com. Read his @johnbrummett Twitter feed.

September 8, 2022

Guest Column: Keep eye out for 11th-hour election volleys

By Jim Pumarlo Election Day is only weeks away. The hyper partisanship of races at all levels – from local to state to federal – demands that editors pay extra attention to press releases and letters to the editor. The editing and delete buttons on your keyboard are likely to get an extra workout.

First and foremost, set two deadlines for letters. Set one deadline for letters that raise no new issues, the final deadline for all elections letters. Second, set an earlier deadline for letters that raise new issues. This gives opponents an opportunity to respond, if they so wish.

Navigating exchanges among candidates, as well as their supporters and detractors, is always a delicate and often exhausting task as editors strive for fairness and consistency in election reports.

If a letter consider

The stakes are ramped up even higher in the final weeks as candidates and their camps seek to level charges at the last possible moment in press releases and letters to augment – or maybe even replace – advertising campaigns.

Newsrooms should have the discussion and be prepared. Set the ground rules if you have not already done so, and publicize the guidelines.

The rules of fair play should be standard practice in press releases. Candidates often weigh in on issues at the forefront of a campaign. If you deem a release worthy of publication, it’s simply sound journalism to get an opponent’s take on an issue as well. It should be mandatory to seek comment if the release references and takes issue with an opponent’s stance.

Newsrooms are most likely to see 11thhour charges volleyed through letters to the editor. Here are some guidelines to consider.

Arkansas Publisher Weekly

misses these

the deadline, alternatives:

If you believe the letter is baseless, feel free to reject it outright. You’ve publicized your guidelines and deadlines, so stand your ground. Don’t underestimate campaign strategy. The individuals calling the shots in the back room often sit on something for weeks and wait to spring it in the final days, hoping an opponent doesn’t have time to respond.

However, if you believe a letter has merit, consider these two options: ● Turn the letter into a news story, giving both candidates a chance to comment.

You’ll first need to have a conversation with the candidates, explaining your rationale.

You’ll want to explain to readers as well within the story or with an editor’s note. ● As an alternative, publish the letter but also give the opposing candidate an opportunity to respond with a letter in the same edition. As always, explain the hows and whys behind your decision with an editor’s note.

The circumstances may warrant a longer explanatory column to readers.

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Most important, publicize the guidelines and deadlines for letters early and often.

That is your best offense to combat the shenanigans of political operatives.

I well remember the days when our FAX machine was spitting out election letters as the deadlines neared. A local office was headquarters for one political party, and numerous letters were sent from the same machine, each signed by a different individual.

FAX machines always posted the time a document arrived. On one occasion, a letter arrived two minutes after our deadline.

I called and informed the “coordinator” that the letter would not be published. He challenged the time on our FAX machine.

I politely and firmly informed him that he had known the deadlines for eight weeks.

End of conversation. He embarrassingly had no response or defense for pushing the limit.And he never missed another deadline.

Jim Pumarlo is former editor of the Red Wing (Minn.) Republican Eagle. He writes, speaks and provides training on community newsroom success strategies. He is author of “Journalism Primer: A Guide to Community News Coverage,” “Votes and Quotes: A Guide to Outstanding Election Coverage” and “Bad News and Good Judgment: A Guide to Reporting on Sensitive Issues in SmallTown Newspapers.” He can be reached at pumarlo.com and welcomes comments and questions at jim@pumarlo.com.

September 15, 2022

Event Event Event Details Details Details

Statehouse Wally StatehouseConvention ConventionCenter Centerininthe the WallyAllen AllenBallroom Ballroom Statehouse Convention Center in the Wally Allen Ballroom 101 East Markham Street, Little Rock, ARAR 72201 101 East Markham Street, Little Rock, 72201 101 East Markham Street, Little Rock, AR 72201

Thursday, Thursday,October October2020 Thursday, October 20 CocktailCocktail Reception at 6 p.m.

Dinner & Program 7 p.m.

Reception at 6| p.m. | Program at 7atp.m.

Cocktail Reception at 6 p.m. | Program at 7 p.m.

Cocktail/Formal (black tietie optional) Cocktail/Formal (black optional) Cocktail/Formal (black tie $1,500 optional) $200 each oror Table ofof 8 for $200 each Table 8 for $1,500 $200 each or Table of 8 for $1,500 ToTo purchase tickets or or a table, visit: arkansaspress.org/events. purchase tickets a table, visit: arkansaspress.org/events.

To purchase tickets or a table, visit: arkansaspress.org/events.

About the Honorees

Headliner of the Year 2020 Headliner of the Year Asa Hutchinson, Governor of Arkansas 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 (Continued)

Hunter Yurachek, Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics University of Arkansas 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.

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

Distinguished Service Award Craig and Brent Renaud, Documentary Filmmakers, Television Producers and Film Programmers Renaud Brothers 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.

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.

Brent Renaud pictured in a Libyan Desert. Photo courtesy of Jeff Newton.

Golden Golden 50 50 Service Service Award Award John Brummett, Columnist John Brummett, Columnist In December 1969, a few days after his 16th birthday, John Brummett , a junior at McClellan High School

in Little Rock and of hishis school went to work ,part-time the then-afternoon In December 1969,sports a feweditor days after 16th newspaper, birthday, John Brummett a junior atforMcClellan High School Arkansas Democrat in theeditor sportsofdepartment. in Little Rock and sports his school newspaper, went to work part-time for the then-afternoon Arkansas Democrat in the sports He worked before school, from 6department. a.m. to 8 a.m., helping produce the afternoon sports pages. He covered local high school events the evenings localproduce golf, tennis swimming events summer.

He worked beforesports school, from in 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., and helping the and afternoon sports pages.inHe covered local high school sports events in the evenings and local golf, tennis and swimming events in summer.

He has worked continuously since—more than 52 years—for newspapers or news services in Arkansas.

He hasattending worked continuously since—more than 52 years—for newspapers services in Arkansas.

While the University of Central Arkansas, he was sports editor of or thenews Log Cabin Democrat in Conway and laterthe a news reporter for the paper.

He he joined Arkansas in July 1977 as a stateWhile attending University of Central Arkansas, wasthe sports editorGazette of the Log Cabin Democrat in desk general assignment reporter.for Hethe became state Capitol the paper in 1980, and, as the Conway and later a news reporter paper.a He joined thereporter ArkansasforGazette in July 1977 as a statenewspaper between the Gazette Democrat heated up,reporter a columnist beginning 1986. desk generalwar assignment reporter.

Heand became a state Capitol for the paper in in 1980, and, as the war between the Gazette and Democrat heated a columnist beginning in 1986.

He became a senior editor ofnewspaper the Arkansas Times and Arkansas Business in 1990 while alsoup, a contract columnist for the Democrat.

Then, in 1993, he wrote columns for the Democrat and Times whileinin1990 Washington writing a book, called “Highwire, ” about Bill He became a senior editor of the both Arkansas Times and Arkansas Business while also a contract columnist for the Democrat.

Clinton’s first year as president.

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 Rock year as Back in Little in president.

1994, he became exclusively a columnist for the surviving Arkansas-Democrat-Gazette, leaving in 2000 to become a columnist for thehe Arkansas Bureau aofcolumnist Stephensfor Media.

He returned in 2011 to the Democrat-Gazette a contract Back in Little Rock in 1994, becameNew exclusively the surviving Arkansas-Democrat-Gazette, leaving as in 2000 to columnist, and he continues in that role today. become a columnist for the Arkansas New Bureau of Stephens Media. He returned in 2011 to the Democrat-Gazette as a contract columnist, he state continues in that role awards, today. a few regional ones and two national ones from the association of state Capitol He has wonand many column-writing reporters.

He has won many state column-writing awards, a few regional ones and two national ones from the association of state Capitol reporters.

In 2017, he was inducted into the Arkansas Writers Hall of Fame.

In 2017, he was inducted into the Arkansas Writers Hall of Fame.

Walter E. Hussman, Jr., Chairman of WEHCO Media, Inc. Walter E. Democrat-Gazette Hussman, Jr., Chairman of WEHCO Media, Inc. Arkansas Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Walter E. Hussman, Jr., a third-generation newspaperman, was born January 5, 1947, in Texarkana and

grew upE.in Camden.Jr., Hisa father was publisher of the Camden News, his grandfather publisher Hussman, third-generation newspaperman, was bornand January 5, 1947, inwas Texarkana andof Walter the Texarkana Gazette. earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the grew up in Camden.

HisHussman father was publisher of the Camden News, and his grandfather wasUniversity publisher of North CarolinaGazette. and an M.B.A. from Columbia University New York.inHejournalism began hisfrom carerer a reporterof the Texarkana Hussman earned his Bachelor of in Arts degree theasUniversity for Forbes magazine returned ArkansasUniversity in September, 1970 toHe work in the business, and North Carolina and anbut M.B.A. fromto Columbia in New York. began hisfamily carerer as a reporter became general manager of the Camden NewsininSeptember, 1971. for Forbes magazine but returned to Arkansas 1970 to work in the family business, and became general managerbattle of thethat Camden News in 1971.

In a David-versus-Goliath few predicted he would survive, Hussman went head-to-head with thea established, dominantbattle Arkansas and won.

1974, Hussman persuaded his fatherwith to In David-versus-Goliath thatGazette few predicted he Earlier would in survive, went head-to-head buyestablished, the Arkansasdominant Democrat,Arkansas the afternoon After persuaded a protractedhisand heated the Gazettedaily andnewspaper won. EarlierininLittle 1974,Rock.

Hussman father to newspaper war, legal battlesbuy andthe even with theDemocrat, sale of thethe Arkansas Gazette Gannett inin1986, emerged the winner and Arkansas afternoon dailyto newspaper LittleHussman Rock. After a protracted and heated bought the war, assets of the rivaland newspaper in 1991, creating Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. newspaper legal battles even with the sale of the 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.

Today, WEHCO Media operates 10 daily newspapers, eight weekly newspapers and nine cable television companies in six states.

Today, WEHCO Media operates newspapers, weekly newspapers andHe nine cable television companies six states.

Hussman was named Publisher10 of daily the Year

by Editor &eight Publisher magazine in 2009. was a member of the board ofindirectors of The Associated Press from 2000 to 2009 and C-SPAN from 1995 to 2003.

Hussman championed education and after-school programs in Hussman was named Publisher of the Year by Editor & Publisher magazine in 2009. He was a member of the board of directors of The Little Rock and the state of Arkansas.

He also served on the Arkansas Arts Center board of directors, on the board of the Arkansas Associated Press from 2000 to 2009 and C-SPAN from 1995 to 2003. Hussman championed education and after-school programs in Repertory Arkansas Society Arts board of directors.

While on theonsymphony started Little RockTheater and theand stateonofthe Arkansas.

HeSymphony also servedOrchestra on the Arkansas Center board of directors, the boardboard, of the he Arkansas 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 Repertory Theater and on the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Society board of directors. While on the symphony board, he started Hussman School and Media was named show in recognition of four generations the family committed journalism.

Pops on the River,ofa Journalism patriotic symphony and fireworks on the Arkansas River in LittleofRock each 4th of July. Into2017, the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media was named in recognition of four generations of the family committed to journalism.

2022 Partner Levels

HEADLINER (SOLD) • • • • • •

One complimentary table for eight at event Branding in statewide newspaper advertisement promoting event Five complimentary full-page advertisements in association newsletter Three complimentary statewide news release distributions to the APA News Network Name/logo on event tickets Name/logo on event tables, signage and promotional materials

FRONT PAGE SPONSORS $7,500 • • • • •

One complimentary table for eight at event Branding in statewide newspaper advertisement promoting event Three complimentary full-page advertisements in association newsletter Two complimentary statewide news release distributions to the APA News Network Name/logo on event signage and promotional materials

BREAKING NEWS SPONSORS $5,000 • • • •

Four complimentary tickets to event Branding in statewide newspaper advertisement promoting event One complimentary full-page advertisement in association newsletter Name/logo on event signage and promotional materials

FRIENDS OF PRESS FREEDOM – INDIVIDUAL SPONSORS ONLY $500

Show your support for freedom of speech and freedom of the press in honor or in memory of a loved one, or in your own name. Email information to ashley@arkansaspress.org • One complimentary ticket • Name submitted printed in event program

All donations benefit the Arkansas Newspaper Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and are tax-deductable.

Auction Donation Form

Thank you for making a contribution to the Arkansas Press Freedom Gala Silent Auction.

Please complete this form and email it to info@arkansaspress.org

Donor name:__________________________________________________________________________ Organization name: _____________________________________________________________________ Mailing address:________________________________________________________________________t Phone: ________________________________ Email:_________________________________________ Please provide a brief description of the item you are donating: ____________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Please provide an approximate retail value. $___________________________________________________

All donations benefit the Arkansas Newspaper Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and are tax-deductable.