Arkansas Publisher Weekly: May 16, 2024

The Center for Integrity in News Reporting holds awards ceremony at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Guest Column:

Let’s change the narrative: time to support journalists again

By Ashley Kemp Wimberley

Arkansas Press Association Publisher Weekly

Hennigan finds career in journalism challenging, rewarding

Mary Hennigan

It’s common for journalists to emphasize the learning aspect of the profession when citing its positives as a career choice.

Meeting interesting people and delving into a variety of societal issues can prove stimulating and personally rewarding.

Mary Hennigan certainly feels she is on a challenging and educational path in her young career as a journalist. She recently joined the staff at the Arkansas Advocate after transitioning from her initial position at the Arkansas Times, which began in 2022.

Hennigan originally was a business major at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville but changed to journalism after a discussion with an English professor who helped her see the correct track in terms of her true interests and goals.

She took the advice, majoring in journalism, with a minor in anthropology.

“I remember the professor asked what job I thought I might work one day, and I described being immersed in a culture that was different from mine, taking photos and conducting interviews with the people around me.

“He asked what I was doing in business school, and why didn’t I

Online donation link for Arkansans for a Free Press now live

Supporters of Arkansans for a Free Press may now make online donations to the group through the secure GoodChange platform.

APA formed its own Ballot Question Committee, Arkansans for a Free Press, earlier this month to ensure the Arkansas Government Disclosure Amendment & Act are on the November 2024 ballot. These measures would enshrine in the state’s Constitution the right to government transparency for every Arkansan and protect citizens’ right to know how their taxpayer dollars are being spent.

“We believe that sunshine is the best disinfectant,” said APA Executive Director Ashley Kemp Wimberley. “But, before we can vote on the Amendment & Act in November, we have to get them on the ballot. We hope that everyone will support this effort that is critical to our industry.”

Donations may be made securely at https://tinyurl. com/ymkwwzdy

If you prefer, checks made out to Arkansans for a Free Press Committee may be mailed to P.O. Box 2257, Little Rock, AR 72203.

Hennigan

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switch my major to journalism?”

“It seems so clear looking back, but I had minimal exposure to journalism in my high school education. In my small town, we were indirectly taught that working in business was a way to make money – and isn’t that what it’s all about? At the time, I really didn’t know better.

“My high school didn’t have a student-run newspaper. There was a yearbook, but I wasn’t involved, and it was largely sports and school club photography. The primary exposure I had to journalism growing up was broadcast, and no offense to the hardworking reporters who meet their deadlines daily, but that wasn’t for me.

“I guess you could say I am too nosy for my own good. And I’m also a good listener. Journalism is really the perfect job for me. I’ve already met a lot of people I would not have met otherwise.

“I’ve always been inquisitive. I have journals from middle school filled with questionnaires I would complete with my friends. I always wanted to know more about a topic; I wanted to know why things were the way they were. That curiosity has increased as I’ve gotten older, and it makes journalism a fine job for me.”

Hennigan began her college career after graduating from high school in Cassville, Missouri, earning both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism. “I want to make a nice shout out to my professors,” she said. “I felt really prepared when I got my first job.”

While a student, Hennigan wrote numerous articles remotely, primarily because of the COVID-19 epidemic. She was involved with internships for several features, including problems relating to housing evictions in Illinois and women working in maledominated agricultural professions.

A major accomplishment relates to her work on a collaborative project that won several national awards, including an IRE Medal from Investigative Reporters & Editors, the Online Journalism

Association, the News Leaders Association and the Society of Professional Journalists.

“Printing Hate” was the title of the project, which involved 60 students from seven university campuses and was led by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland. The students built a database of past newspaper coverage of Black Americans to document the role the press often played in the perpetration and perpetuation of racial violence.

Hennigan’s contribution to the project was an article about a little-known 1904 lynching in St. Charles, Arkansas. She enjoyed meeting other students involved in the project at an awards ceremony held in Denver.

She also worked 2020-2021 as a reporter and assistant editor with arkansascovid.com, a daily online information source concerning the disease and its impact on Arkansas. “We especially looked at how different demographics fared during the height of COVID-19,” she said.

Hennigan decided the advisability of social distancing during the pandemic period was a good time to complete her master’s degree.

Her first traditional journalism position began in June 2022 at the Arkansas Times, primarily covering Little Rock city government. She landed the position after moving to Central Arkansas with her boyfriend, Kolten Smith, an environmental scientist.

While city government was the focus, Hennigan was free to cover other articles of interest, such as a feature on geriatric elephants at the Little Rock Zoo.

“My work at the Arkansas Times was the first time I was ever involved in an actual newsroom setting,” she said. “That really propelled me forward. There is certainly a difference between

HENNIGAN Page 3

See

Hennigan in the field reporting.

Hennigan with boyfriend Kolten Smith.

Hennigan

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learning for real and learning at school. The staff there is rather small, but very talented.

“It also was important for me to learn how and when to file a FOIA request,” she added.

Hennigan accepted the position at the Arkansas Advocate in April and will be working with editor-in-chief Sonny Albarado, deputy editor Antoinette Grajeda and reporter Tess Vrbin.

The Advocate is an online-only daily publication focusing on state government and public policy. With an initial publication date of Aug. 16, 2022, the Advocate is part of a nationwide network, States Newsroom, which began with six outlets in 2018 and has grown to 50 across the country. All the outlets are funded by donations that support non-profit, high-quality journalism without advertising, subscription fees or paywalls.

Hennigan will focus primarily on three areas – women’s issues, environmental policy and housing.

“I already have some experience covering housing issues,” Hennigan said. “Arkansas is a state in which tenants have few rights and I will take a look at problems relating to that and some of the difficult situations in which renters are living.”

Hennigan notes that Arkansas has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the nation. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has issued an executive order relating to improving women’s and maternal health and Hennigan will follow that endeavor. She also plans to cover problems related to health care for women in underserved rural areas of the state.

“I’m grateful for the donors who fund the non-profit model. As someone who often writes stories about people in low-income communities, the non-profit news model is a way for those people to read my stories, and others they may be interested in, for free. Reading the news and having information about what your government is doing, what your neighbors may be doing, is invaluable. The non-profit model helps remove a barrier for folks who can’t afford to fork out additional funds throughout the year. It removes a barrier for everyone who wants to seek information and read local news.”

Hennigan has multiple outside interests, including reading and going to the movies (especially on Discount Tuesday). “I set a goal of reading 24 books this year and by May I have already read 20,” she said. She especially enjoys fiction and memoirs.

She enjoys swimming, hiking and visiting waterfalls. “I am trying to be a long-distance runner, but it’s hard.”

She and Smith also share a cat, named Ziggy.

Hennigan is confidently moving forward as a young person who has a strong belief in and commitment to the role of journalist in today’s society.

“I see journalists as storytellers and history keepers,” she said. “Reporters have a unique opportunity to get involved in the community and meet people – from elected officials to average joes, passionate people fighting for change or leaders running a specialized business. Documenting those stories, no matter how big or small, tells a larger narrative of what the world is currently like.

On the environmental front, she will look at solar power opportunities, such as grants for solar panels in homes.

Hennigan believes non-profit journalism provides new avenues for important news coverage. “I am local journalism’s biggest fan,” she said.

“My experience at the Arkansas Advocate so far has been positive,” Hennigan said. “The team is really supportive and there seems to be a value of quality over quantity. I appreciate having a non-profit publication in today’s environment, especially as reporting jobs continue to dwindle.

“Journalists also play a critical role in fact checking elected officials’ claims and ensuring money is being spent in appropriate ways. In my opinion being a member of the press is a powerful tool that people don’t appreciate enough. The narrative around news media in recent years has soured, and it’s jarring to think about the things the public wouldn’t know if the storytellers weren’t here to document reality.

“Being a journalist has been my dream. I’m lucky to have a job and am having fun doing it. I guess I could have a change of heart later, but I’m only 25, and for a 25-year-old, I’m doing okay.”

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. Lists available job openings and other opportunities at Arkansas newspapers and associate member organizations. Send your listings to info@arkansaspress.org

In her free time Hennigan enjoys exploring the outdoors.

The Center for Integrity in News Reporting holds awards ceremony at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

The Center for Integrity in News Reporting, housed at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, held its first awards dinner honoring impartial reporting on Tuesday, May 14th, at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Top honors at the awards went to Paul Pringle of the Los Angeles Times for “Scandal in the Station House: No One Gets Fired by the L.A. Fire Department,” Blake Ellis, Melanie Hickman, Audrey Ash, Pamela Brown, Curt Devine and Scott Bronstein of CNN for “The Coast Guard’s Secret” and Rose Hoban of North Carolina Health News for “What is Blue Cross Blue Shield NC Up To?”

Chris Fulton of the Mountain Home Observer, an APA Media Member, was announced as a finalist in the digital reporting category for his piece, “Mountain Home School Board – Arkansas FOIA Violations.”

Bret Baier, anchor and executive editor of “Special Report with Bret Baier” on Fox News, served as the event’s keynote speaker

The Center was created by WEHCO Media, Inc. Chairman Walter Hussman, Jr., former chairman and CEO of the Freedom Forum, Newseum and Diversity Institute Charles L. Overby and current WEHCO Media Publisher Eliza Gaines to address a growing national problem — the public’s loss in trust in news reporting — and to help find solutions to restore that trust. The awards, which consist of individual $25,000 prizes for “news reporting that has the courage to not fear and the discipline to not favor,” reward the best examples of impartial, objective and fair news reporting in the areas of print, cable television and digital.

More than 100 entries from print, cable television and digital news organizations nationwide were judged by members of Newspaper Association Managers, a professional organization comprised of the executives of state, regional, national and international newspaper associations headquartered in the United States and Canada. APA Executive Director Ashley Kemp Wimberley served as one of six judges of the competition.

Contest judges in attendance were Layne Bruce, executive director of the Mississippi Press Association; Michelle Rea, executive director of the New York Press Association; Ashley Kemp Wimberley, executive director of the Arkansas Press Association and Brian Allfrey, executive director of the Utah Press Association. Not in attendance were Emily Bradbury of the Kansas Press Association and Mark Maassen of the Missouri Press Association.

awards.

The Library of Congress was the setting for The Center for Integrity in News Reporting first annual awards dinner.

Eliza Gaines presents the evening’s

May 31 is deadline for Carmage Walls Commentary Writing Prize contest

The deadline for this year’s Carmage Walls Commentary Writing Prize Competition, sponsored by America’s Newspapers, is May 31.

The prize is named for the late Benjamin Carmage Walls, whose newspaper career spanned seven decades. Walls primarily owned community newspapers and advocated for strong, courageous and positive editorial page leadership. First, second and third-place awards for strong and courageous editorial writing and column writing are presented in two circulation brackets: under 35,000 circulation and over 35,000.

Cash awards will be as follows in each of the

four contest brackets: first-place, $2,250; second-place, $1,000; and third-place, $500. This puts total cash prizes at $15,000, thanks to the generous support of Lissa Walls Cribb and Southern Newspapers, Inc.

Last year saw two Arkansas DemocratGazette writers, editorial page editor David Barham and columnist John Brummett, honored in the competition.

Entries must have been published either online or in print by a daily or non-daily newspaper between June 1, 2023, and May 31, 2024. For more information and to enter, visit https://newspapers.org/ commentary-prize/

Life, work of late journalist/novelist Portis celebrated in Ashley County museum

An exhibit dedicated to the late journalist and author Charles Portis has opened at the Ashley County Museum in Hamburg.

Portis was born in El Dorado, but moved with his family to Hamburg as a young teen. A 1951 graduate of Hamburg High School, Portis served in the Marines during the Korean War then attended the University of Arkansas, from which he earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1958. He wrote for the Arkansas Traveler while at UA and went on to be a reporter for the Northwest Arkansas Times in Fayetteville and the Commercial Appeal in Memphis. Upon his return from Memphis, he was a reporter and columnist for the Arkansas Gazette, writing the “Our Town” column for two years.

Portis also wrote for Newsweek magazine and served as London bureau chief for the New York Herald-Tribune. After his stint in London, he returned to Arkansas to write fiction full-time, with his work appearing in the Saturday Evening Post and The Atlantic Monthly. His most famous novel, 1968’s “True Grit”, was a New York Times bestseller and the basis of two major motion pictures. His 1966 novel, “Norwood”, was also adapted for the big screen. Following his death in Little Rock in February 2020, Portis was buried in Hamburg.

The Ashley County Museum is run by the Ashley County Historical Society and located at 302 N. Cherry Street in Hamburg. It is open by appointment and admission is free. Learn more at ashleycountymuseum.com

Sale of southeast Arkansas newspapers to Bunyard Broadcasting announced

Bunyard Broadcasting, Inc., which operates a network of radio stations across Arkansas as well as The Polk County Pulse, announced on May 16 the pending acquisition of newspapers in Polk, Sebastian, Scott and Sevier Counties from Alabama-based Lancaster Management.

The sale of The Mena Star, The De Queen Bee, The Ouachita Trading Post, The Waldron News and The Mansfield Citizen to De Queen-based Bunyard is expected to finalize May 31. The media group will serve as a subsidiary of Bunyard Broadcasting under the title Arklahoma Print and Digital Solutions.

Owned by Jay and Teresa Bunyard of De Queen, Bunyard Broadcasting has a longstanding commitment to providing timely and accurate information regarding local news, sports and community events. Bunyard has operated KDQN 92.1 FM in De Queen since 1983, eventually expanding to include 18 stations across the state, including Arkansas’ first all-Spanish station.

“I grew up reading local newspapers like The De Queen Bee and The Mena Star, and believe they are core to an informed, active and successful community,” said Jay Bunyard in the announcement of the sale. “It’s key to providing our listeners and readers with coverage of youth sports, local events, notable deaths, elections and public notices, as well as a newspaper’s critical role as a watchdog of government.”

Bunyard Broadcasting anticipates no changes to the core level of service offered to current readers and subscribers, other than a renewed focus on local coverage. More details on the merger and its associated publications will be announced in the coming days and weeks.

Charles Portis

I once lived in a world when people valued the press.

It seems today the press is not only not appreciated, but vilified.

It’s a farce any true journalist would be an enemy of the people…national, state or local.

My parents are retired Arkansas journalists. But does a journalist ever truly retire when there is a story to tell?

This year, I held an umbrella over my dad and his camera at my hometown’s 8-man football championship game at War Memorial Stadium — after he has been years retired. There was a story to tell…win or lose. He was there.

My parents are the reason for my career…. to preserve newspapers and rural Arkansas.

Guest Column:

Let’s change the narrative: time to support journalists again

By Ashley Kemp Wimberley

I believe those things go hand and hand. Their work was endless hours, whether an after hours City Council meeting or the coverage of an after hours sports event. My brother and I sat through many nights with them living their trade. We watched the fun and the hard moments…from championship games to fatal accidents.

What we saw is this: what they did matters.

Journalism is the backbone of democracy. And I’m REALLY tired of it being politicized. It’s simply not political.

It’s not left or right. Or anywhere in between. It’s people who care enough to spend their time chronicling every single moment of their communities from the highest to the lowest.

The press is not the enemy. Journalists are

the glue to every community. They are community connectors and givers.

I entered this field in honor of my parents, and I’ve been overjoyed to see their same goodness and care and fairness replicated all over the state and country.

My one ask: please value this trade again. It’s not what you want to hear, but you have to pay to be informed. There are no shortcuts. It’s a trade where one is trained. Please don’t think you can stay caught up from social media.

Democracy demands true journalism.

Ashley Kemp Wimberley is the executive director of the Arkansas Press Association.