4 6
APA welcomes the Saline River Chronicle as a Media Member
Guest Column:
Some local newspapers are on life support; banks could provide the cure they need
Arkansas Press Association
Publisher Weekly
By Steven Waldman and Julie Sandorf
Vol.18 | No. 12 | Thursday, March 23, 2023 | Serving Press and State Since 1873
Citizen Argus: Brinkley newspaper woman Glenda Arnett recognized for her community service and charitable work By Wesley Brown
you.’”
For more than 50 years, Glenda Arnett of the Brinkley Argus has taken the front-page photo for every winner of the community’s “Citizen of the Year” award from the Brinkley Chamber of Commerce
“I was shocked,” continued Arnett, noting that everyone in town except her was in on the surprise. “After they announced it, all my kids and family members started coming in and congratulating me. They did a great job of hiding this from me.”
The office manager/award-winning photographer/writer/ad salesperson for the Monroe County weekly started work at the local newspaper in May 1967 and has worked for every publisher since for more than five decades. One of the joys for this do-everything newspaperwoman has been the yearly honor and task of taking the photo of every recipient of the Citizen of the Year since 1971. Arnett was set up to take her prized photo during this year’s fete when the winner was announced. That moment, memorialized on the front page of the March 1 edition of the Argus, caught Arnett completely off guard and rendered her nearly speechless. “They began reading about the person, and I couldn’t really hear what they were saying when they announced the winner,” said Arnett. “I asked my sister, ‘Whose name did they call?’ and she said, ‘It’s
The life-long Brinkley resident is a 56year veteran of the local newspaper business. In 2019, she received the Arkansas Press Association Golden 50 Service Award for more than 50 years of service in the newspaper industry. According to the Brinkley Chamber of Commerce, numerous nominations of Arnett were submitted for the 2022 top citizen award. One said of Arnett, “Glenda is the epitome of everything that is great about Brinkley. She is dedicated to the town and volunteers for innumerable charitable activities through civil and religious organizations...There are few lives in Brinkley that she hasn’t touched.” Arnett said that she was surprised by the honor, although her role at the newspaper has allowed her the opportunity to get out into the community and meet people
Arnett with master of ceremonies Steve Henry at the Citizen of the Year awards presentation at the Chamber of Commerce Banquet on February 23, 2023
every day. Founded in 1883 by J. C. McKetham and the brothers B. F. Kelley and Robert J. Kelley, the original Brinkley Argus was a four-to-eight-page weekly which advertised itself as having the largest circulation of any paper in Monroe County in the 1890s. Arnett’s first publisher and editor, Mason
Continued on Page 2
Registration now open for APA Advertising Conference Registration is now open for the 2023 APA Advertising Conference on Friday, April 28. Attendees can purchase tickets online at arkansaspress.org/advertisingconference The conference will be held at Red &
Blue Events Venue, near the Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock. Marianne Grogan, president of Coda Ventures in Nashville, Tenn., will be the keynote presenter, and will demonstrate how data can be used by newspapers for successful sales conversations. The day will also include a panel
discussion, a luncheon and the APA Better Newspaper Advertising Contest awards ceremony, which will be emceed by Roby Brock of Talk Business & Politics. Tickets for the day are $50 and include all events. If you have any questions, email info@arkansaspress.org.