Arkansas Press Association Publisher

Eagle Democrat in Warren soars one year after near-closure

It’s certainly a happy one-year anniversary of sorts May 1 for The Eagle Democrat, a weekly newspaper in Warren that was on the verge of closing until current publisher Tom White and his parent company, Smith Newspapers, stepped up to save Bradley County’s oldest business.

The result is that, a year later, the 138-yearold newspaper remains a viable part of the county of some 11,000 people – providing accurate and timely coverage of public boards and commissions and helping celebrate the people and institutions of Warren and the surrounding area.

The importance of local newspaper coverage will be on full display in just a couple of weeks with the arrival of the famed Pink Tomato Festival, traditionally one of the largest local celebrations in Arkansas.

“We don’t have any local television stations in our area, so the local newspaper is critical for coverage in communities such as ours,” said managing editor Ashley Hogg.

She said Warren and Bradley County residents and businesses have “expressed gratefulness” for the decision by her company to acquire the newspaper and continue to keep alive the long heritage of The Eagle Democrat, which traces its history back to 1885. “They certainly didn’t want to see the newspaper close its doors,” Hogg said.

“Readers also have shown appreciation for some of the changes we have made, such as full color photos on the front and back pages and an increased number of special sections covering various aspects of the community,” Hogg said.

The staff has developed one special section called Reflections that celebrates positive community happenings during

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Hogg

Deadline extended for entering the APA editorial contest

Monday, May 1 is now the last day for submissions to the 2023 APA Better Newspaper Editorial Contest. The annual contest showcases the best work of editors, reporters, designers and photographers around the state.

All work must have been published in the 2022 calendar year. Categories this year include News Story, Feature Story, Series Reporting, Investigative Reporting, Beat Reporting, Sports News Story, Sports Feature Story, Sports Column, Editorial, News/ Political Column, General Interest Column, Humorous Column, Freelancer Recognition and Headline Writing, as well as a variety of photography, community coverage, layout and design and digital categories, including social media and podcasts.

The presentation of awards will be made at the conclusion of the 2023 APA Convention at the DoubleTree Hotel in Little Rock on July 22.

For complete contest category information, rules and to enter, visit newspapercontest.com/ Contests/ ArkansasPressAssociation.aspx. The login name and password remains the same as previous years, but if you need assistance please email terri@ arkansaspress.org