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Gill announced as ME in South Arkansas Guest Column: Building Main Street, Not Wall Street: Media can be transformative in your community By John A. Newby
Arkansas Press Association
Publisher Weekly Vol.18 | No. 49 | Thursday, December 21, 2023 | Serving Press and State Since 1873
Arkansas newspaper industry deaths in 2023 In this special issue of Arkansas Publisher Weekly, we mourn the loss of the many people associated with Arkansas newspapers or the state’s journalism community since last year, and remember and pay tribute to them for their contributions.
Haven Hughes
Chris Scott
Hubert Lee Ferguson
Haven Presley Hughes, 22, Little Rock, Jan. 16. Hughes, a reporter at KARK News 4 and KLRT Fox 16, died in a motorcycle accident. She received a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from Henderson State University in 2022. While in college, Hughes was a reporter for The Oracle student newspaper, an on-air host for the student radio station and news anchor for Henderson Television. She also was a member of Alpha Xi Delta, a progressive organization dedicated to the personal growth of women.
Christopher Robert Scott, 45, Little Rock, Jan. 17. Scott was a news producer at KLRT Fox 16. He earned a degree in broadcast journalism from the Fulbright College of Arts and Science at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Scott began as an intern at KATV Channel 7 in Little Rock and quickly landed a full-time position as an editor in the sports department. He worked at KATV for 21 years, receiving multiple Emmy Awards. As a producer at Fox 16, he worked closely with the reporters, videographers and production staff.
Hubert Lee Ferguson, 97, Boxley, Feb. 4. Working with his father-in-law, Frank Robins, Ferguson ran the commercial printing operation at the Conway Printing Company, publishers of the Log Cabin Democrat until his retirement in 1980. At that time, he and his wife, Mary Virginia Robins, moved to the Boxley Valley on the upper Buffalo River and started Jimmy Creek Farm, raising Hereford cattle. Ferguson served in combat in World War II, prior to attending George Washington University and eventually completing a degree at Arkansas State Teachers College, now UCA. Continued on page 2
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Arkansas newspaper industry deaths in 2023 Continued from page 1
Steve Leavell
the Westville (Okla.) Reporter. She worked as an editor, reporter, photographer and page designer, from 1974 until her retirement, earning multiple journalism awards. Videtto served on the board of directors for the Arkansas Country Doctors Museum, was a founding member of the Arkansas Apple Festival and served on the Lincoln City Council.
Marian Daniel Shultz
Frank Leeming Jr.
Steve Leavell, 67, Dover, Feb. 7. A native of Russellville, Leavell was a freelance journalist for The Courier, the Atkins Chronicle and the Dover Times. He also taught English in the Dover School District for more than 35 years. “When he became the editor of The Dover Times, it was a great day for me and Van Tyson as owners,” Ginnie Tyson, co-publisher of The Atkins Chronicle and The Dover Times, said. “He elevated the quality of our newspapers.” Leavell was survived by his wife of 46 years, Liz Leavell, two sons, a daughter and three grandchildren.
Julie Martin Videtto
Frank Leeming Jr., 84, Hot Springs Village, Feb. 25. After a varied and successful newspaper career, Lemming retired to Hot Springs Village in the early 1990s. He “unretired” in 2005 to spend three years as editor of the Hot Springs Village Voice. Leeming was twice nominated for a Pulitzer Prize during a career that carried him to such publications as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Kingsport (Tenn,) Times-News (publisher) and the Journal of San Juan Islands in Washington State (owner). Leeming was very active while living in Hot Springs Village, including serving as director of the Property Owners Association.
Julie Martin Videtto, 73, Lincoln, Feb. 8. Videtto was the former editor of the Lincoln Leader and Prairie Grove Enterprise, now the Washington County Enterprise Leader, and
Marian Daniel Owens Ingram Shultz, 86, Hot Springs Village, May 18. A native of Beebe, she was the mother of Dan Owens, the founding publisher of Arkansas Business. She was the first female city council member elected in Warren and continued her political career by winning three terms in the Arkansas House of Representatives from South Arkansas before being term-limited. Her signature piece of legislation involved requiring new teachers to undergo background checks. Following the deaths of her first two husbands, she married John Shultz, Jr. in 2017 and moved to Hot Springs Village.
Alan Goolsby
Alan Eugene Goolsby, 76, Hampton, May 24. Goolsby was the former owner and publisher of the South Arkansas Continued on page 3
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Arkansas newspaper industry deaths in 2023 Continued from page 2
Accent in Hampton. The newspaper was formerly known as the Calhoun Herald and was precursor to today’s South Arkansas Sun. After spending training time with the owner of the Sheridan Headlight, he moved his wife and two young children to Hampton to begin his newspaper career. Goolsby was proficient in many areas and also worked at Lockheed Martin for 25 years, served as an assistant manager at K-Mart and had a construction business. He also served as a volunteer fireman for 27 years.
Hoyt Purvis
Hoyt Purvis, 83, Fayetteville, May 26. A native of Jonesboro, Purvis had a distinguished 34-year career as a professor of journalism and political science at the University of Arkansas until his retirement in 2016. For the first 18 years of those years, he also served as director of the University’s Fulbright Institute of International Relations. He had previously served as press secretary and special assistant to U.S. Sen. J.W. Fulbright and as an advisor to U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd. Purvis earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from the University of Texas, and also taught there. He also appeared regularly on the “Arkansas Week” TV program and was a 20year columnist for the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Arkansas Publisher Weekly
Brian Smith
and “old school” manner and made an indelible mark in the history of Arkansas journalism. An editorial in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette noted that, during her long career, nobody was a stronger defender of the state’s Freedom of Information Act.
Mary Fisher
Brian Lee Smith, 63, Van Buren, July 2. Smith was born in Memphis and raised in Leachville. After graduating from Leachville High School, he earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He worked several years as a sportswriter and later served as sports editor of the Northwest Arkansas Morning News in Springdale. He later returned to Leachville to work with his family as a licensed funeral director and then served as a rural mail carrier in Manila. He returned to Northwest Arkansas in a position at the Postal Distribution Center in Fort Smith.
Meredith Oakley
Mary Mae Fowler Fisher, 73, Danville, July 22. Fisher was managing editor and copublisher of the Dardanelle Post-Dispatch and the Yell County Record in Danville. She also co-owned, with her husband, David Fisher, the Conway County Petit-Jean Country Headlight in Morrilton and the Perry County Country Headlight in Perryville. An APA past president, she was, at the time of her death, serving on the Arkansas Newspaper Foundation board. Fisher was very active in many organizations in Yell County, especially in her more than 40-year leadership involvement in the Boy Scouts of America.
John R. Ragsdale
Meredith Oakley, 72, Little Rock, July 19. Oakley began working at the Arkansas Democrat in 1976 and developed a reputation as a fearless political reporter, editor and columnist over her 35-year journalism career. She rose up through the ranks at the newspaper and eventually became the “right hand” to her mentor, managing editor John Robert Starr. Oakley covered politics and the State Capitol in what was described as a “fierce” 3
John R. Ragsdale, 85, Malvern, Aug. Continued on page 4
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Arkansas newspaper industry deaths in 2023 Continued from page 3
12. Ragsdale went to work at the Pine Bluff Commercial after high school, and over his career served as advertising manager at the Log Cabin Democrat in Conway, the Paragould Daily Press and a newspaper in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. He was the manager of the Warren Chamber of Commerce manager in the mid to late 1960s before serving as General Manager/ Publisher of the Daily Siftings Herald in Arkadelphia from 1969 through late 1981, at which point he and his wife, Betty Jane Gavin Ragsdale, became the owners and publishers of the Nevada County Picayune in Prescott. In 1995 the couple bought the Gurdon Times, publishing it and the Picayune until selling both in 2001.
Dorothy Caldwell
Jim McIntosh
Jim Pitcock
Jim McIntosh, 58, Lakeview, Sept. 8. McIntosh was the former managing editor of the Clay County Courier in Corning. He began his 18-year career in Corning as a reporter covering news and sports. Prior to accepting the position there, he had been employed at Concord Publishing in Berryville. At one point McIntosh served as logistics manager of the Corning and JV Rockwell Publishing Companies and was responsible for logistics for all printed publications. He and his family moved in 2021 to Baxter County, where McIntosh was co-owner of a landscape business and was also involved in logistics and a water distribution business.
Jim Pitcock, 83, Little Rock, Oct. 8. Pitcock was the longtime news director at KATV Channel 7 in Little Rock. A native of Fort Smith, he worked at radio and television stations in his hometown, Paris and Little Rock before beginning his 32 years in the newsroom at KATV. During his time at the station, he covered events from the Soviet Union, Romania, Vietnam and 42 states. He traveled to every county in Arkansas “at least three times” during his career, reporting on the state’s news, politics and people. Pitcock was honored in 2017 for lifetime achievement with an Emmy Award from the Mid-America Chapter of the National Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Dorothy Reddell Caldwell, 87, Raleigh, North Carolina, Aug. 13. Caldwell, along with her husband, Marvin Caldwell, coowned the Marianna Courier-Index from 1947 to 1985. A native of Cotton Plant, she earned a bachelor’s degree in home economics from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. After graduation from college, she was recruited to teach home economics at the high school in Marianna, where she met her future husband. She contributed articles, columns and features to the newspaper. Caldwell enjoyed a distinguished career in home economics on the state and national levels, with special emphasis on improving school nutrition. Volunteers from the Mountain Home Food Basket and Baxter Bulletin staff are pictured after loading 1,295 pounds of food collected during November. The donated items were part of The Bulletin’s annual food drive, which allows customers to renew or start a subscription at a discounted rate. Photo by Sonny Elliott. Reprinted with permission.
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December 21, 2023
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Gill announced as ME in South Arkansas Poole joins Eagle guided by our core Democrat in Warren Bradly Gill has been announced as the new managing editor of the El Dorado News-Times, Camden News and Magnolia Banner-News.
values and knows how important c o m m u n i t y journalism is today. He has a servant’s heart, he understands our mission and will serve our readers and our communities well.”
Gill holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism from the Bradly Gill with Robyn Yarbro in the Camden University of Arkansas News offices at Monticello, and began his newspaper career as copy editor Gill said he will serve the area with the and paginator with Gannett in Monroe, utmost professionalism, and endeavor Louisiana before moving into reporting. to work with his staff to grow the variety He has been with WEHCO Newspapers of content produced at each publication since 2016, most recently working as news while adhering to the fundamentals of journalistic principles. editor for the Camden News. News-Times, Banner-News and Camden News General Manager Robyn Yarbro said Gill’s career versatility will give him a leg up on handling the work flow that comes with being a managing editor.
“I am excited to step into the position of managing editor. I caught the journalism bug in college at UAM, and it’s been my passion ever since,” Gill said in the announcement.
“I’m excited to watch Bradly work alongside our stellar teams in El Dorado, Camden and Magnolia,” Yarbro said in the announcement. “I know he will do a great job leading these newsrooms. Bradly is
“I believe that all three communities deserve the very best local news coverage. I’m grateful for a very talented staff that produces some of the best work being done in South Arkansas.”
Joanna Poole
Joanna Poole has joined the editorial staff at the Eagle Democrat in Warren as a reporter covering Bradley County events. A native of Southeast Arkansas, Poole will graduate from the University of Arkansas at Monticello with a degree in Creative Writing in 2024. In addition, she owns J. Poole Photography, specializing in wedding and lifestyle photography. Poole has lived with her husband and children in Hermitage for 18 years. “I love living in Bradley County,” she said in the announcement of her hiring. “I am looking forward to being involved in and getting to write about what happens here.”
Arkansas librarian who repurposed coin-operated newspaper racks honored by American Library Association
Clare Graham
A Hot Spring County librarian who repurposed newspaper industry castoffs was announced this week as one of the winners of a national award from the American Librarian Association.
Clare Graham, director of the Malvern-Hot Spring County Library, was announced on December 18 as one of 10 recipients of the
Arkansas Publisher Weekly
2024 I Love My Librarian Award. Graham was honored for her efforts in expanding the MHCL’s geographic reach by acquiring and converting old coin-fed newspaper racks into Little Free Libraries to serve the county’s more rural areas, along with other accomplishments in securing grant funding for library furniture and technology, hosting community dialogues that engage in difficult histories and supporting the community’s unhoused population. Graham was selected from nearly 1,400 nominations nationwide for the 2024
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award. As part of her award, she will receive a $5,000 cash prize as well as complimentary registration and a travel stipend to attend ALA’s 2024 LibLearnX event in Baltimore, Maryland. The I Love My Librarian Award is sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, with additional support from the New York Public Library, and is administered by ALA. Candidates are nominated by library users for their expertise, dedication and impact in their communities.
December 21, 2023
Congratulations on 150 years. Simmons Bank congratulates the Arkansas Press Association (APA) on 150 years in business and all it has achieved for our state. As Arkansas’s first trade association and the oldest professional association in the state, APA has paved the way for the freedom of press. Simmons recently celebrated 120 years in business, so we feel a special connection with organizations that share a long history of serving our local communities. We’re proud to be in great company with the APA and look forward to the next 150 years!
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October 13, 2023
Guest Column: Building Main Street, Not Wall Street: Media can be transformative in your community By John A. Newby
Small local communities often face challenges in staying vibrant and connected. In the digital age, the media can be a powerful tool for small communities to transform themselves and become more vibrant. This transformation is not just about economic development but also about fostering a sense of belonging, strengthening social bonds and preserving local culture. Let’s explore how small local communities can effectively utilize various forms of media, both traditional and digital, to achieve these goals. The media can provide great storytelling that enhances the community’s identity. The act of storytelling helps residents connect with their past, appreciate their present and envision what their future might hold. Local media of all types can share their narratives. A great example might be the “Humans of New York” project, started by photographer Brandon Stanton. He uses social media to capture and share the stories of individuals in New York City. This project has not only become a global phenomenon but also demonstrated how simple, heartfelt storytelling can help build a stronger sense of community. Engaging local news and providing access to accurate and timely information is crucial for any community. Local newspapers, community newsletters and online news platforms can play a significant role in keeping residents informed about events, local issues and opportunities for civic engagement. The city of Akron, Ohio, has seen the positive impact of a communityfocused news initiative. The Akron Beacon Journal, in partnership with the Knight
Arkansas Publisher Weekly
Foundation, launched the “Akronist” project, which focuses on local news, issues and community events. This initiative has helped residents stay engaged with their community and has fostered a sense of pride in Akron. The media can provide community building and social connectivity. Through digital assets, including social networking and community websites, they have become essential tools for building and strengthening local communities. Online forums and groups can connect residents who share common interests and concerns, fostering a sense of belonging and collaboration. Nextdoor is a popular social networking platform designed for neighborhoods and local communities. It allows residents to connect, share information and collaborate on local issues. Through Nextdoor, residents can organize events, discuss concerns, and help one another. Local media plays a vital role in supporting local businesses and driving economic development. Local advertisements, reviews, and features can help businesses gain visibility and connect with their target audience. While not the only way, the “Shop Local” movement has gained traction in many small communities, encouraging residents to support local businesses. Local media outlets, such as newspapers and radio stations, often run special features and advertising campaigns to promote local businesses. The media can serve as a catalyst for social change and civic engagement. When
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local issues are brought to the forefront through newspapers, radio or digital platforms, residents are more likely to get involved in addressing those issues. The Flint water crisis in Michigan garnered national attention through the media. This spotlight brought resources, volunteers and government action to address the problem, illustrating how media can be a force for positive change in a community. The media can raise awareness about pressing local issues and inspire residents to take action. Whether it’s advocating for better infrastructure, cleaner environments or more inclusive policies, community engagement can lead to positive transformations. Small local communities, when working closely with their local media, can leverage the power of media to transform themselves into more vibrant and connected places. Through storytelling, accessible local news, cultural expression, community building, business support and civic engagement, media can help residents strengthen their sense of identity and belonging. Moreover, it can drive economic development, celebrate local culture, and inspire positive social change.
John Newby is a nationally recognized columnist, speaker and publisher. He consults with chambers, communities, businesses and media. His “Building Main Street, not Wall Street,” column appears in more than 60 newspapers and media outlets. He can be reached at: John@Truly-Local.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Reprinted with permission.
December 21, 2023