June Freeman, wife of publisher Edmond Freeman, dies at 95
Guest Column:
AD-LIBS: “I don’t know” can be a great answer
By John Foust
Arkansas Press Association Publisher Weekly
Vol.19 | No. 27 | Friday, July 12, 2024 | Serving Press and State Since 1873
FOIA Act and Amendment signature collection effort falls short
Despite a last-minute push from volunteers and paid canvassers alike, the Arkansas Government Disclosure Act and Amendment both failed to collect enough signatures for inclusion on the November ballot.
While the effort collected signatures for both measures from every county in Arkansas, the tally was 119,480 signatures, including 60,528 for the Act and 58,952 for the Amendment.
A minimum of 90,704 signatures are required for constitutional amendments to be considered for the ballot, and 72,563
signatures for initiated acts. In at least 50 counties, the signatures collected for a proposed constitutional amendment must exceed 5% of the number of people who voted in the previous election for an amendment and 4% for an initiated act.
The Arkansas Government Disclosure Act met the 50-county threshold, while the Amendment achieved qualification in 35 counties.
Volunteers from every point on the political spectrum worked alongside the two ballot question committees, Arkansas Citizens for Transparency and Arkansans for a Free Press, in support of the measures.
“I don’t believe we had a lack of support — we had a lack of time,” said APA Executive Director Ashley Kemp Wimberley. “If you don’t have a substantive enough budget to quickly meet both the 50 county and the gross thresholds — like we didn’t — you must have way more time.”
Wimberley thanked the APA member newspapers that donated advertising space for the initiative as well as the many volunteers statewide who canvassed.
“I want to express my gratitude for all of those who volunteered long hours,” said Wimberley. “It has been gratifying to see so many people from across the state with no interest other than believing in open government and the right of any citizen to obtain information willing to work so hard. I also want to thank those who gave financially to help us keep this grassroots effort afloat and give it a fighting chance.”
Arkansans for a Free Press, formed by APA in May of this year, is already looking to the future. The group filed a new proposed constitutional amendment on July 9 for inclusion on the 2026 general election ballot. The new proposed amendment is the same text as the 2024 attempted amendment, with the only difference being the effective date.
“This is a hurdle, not an end,” said Wimberley of the signature collection shortfall. “I believe open government is essential in preserving democracy, and it’s what I want future generations to enjoy as well. Fighting to keep public records, meetings and notices
FOIA
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transparent to taxpayers is not even a fight we should be having. This has been an educational process, and we are hopeful that the same is true for our legislators who represent the people who believe in government transparency across the state.”
“Polling shows that open government is immensely popular, and it is essential whether it’s at the Capitol or the local level,” said APA President Andrew Bagley, who also serves on the Arkansans for a Free Press committee.
“We look forward to working with the members of the General Assembly in the next legislative session to preserve the people’s right to know,” said Bagley. “I still believe that we share the concerns of a majority of Arkansans. We cannot allow Winthrop Rockefeller’s legacy to be erased. He was a fighter who once ran for Governor and lost, but came back to be one of the most revered governors in the history of our state. He taught us not to give up in the face of a setback.”
Glenwood Herald sold to owners of Montgomery County News
Dewayne Holloway and Gail Pitts, who as 3 Rivers Media publish the Montgomery County News and Threshing Floor of the Ouachitas, purchased the 98-year-old Glenwood Herald from Nashville Leader, Inc., on July 1.
“We look forward to building upon the legacy of local community-minded journalism for the people of Glenwood and surrounding communities,” said Holloway in the announcement of the sale.
Holloway brings more than 15 years of journalism experience to the Glenwood
Herald. He began his journalism career in 2008 as sports editor at the Nashville News before moving to the Montgomery County News in Mount Ida as editor in 2013. He and Pitts, who has a sales and marketing background, purchased the Montgomery County News from the Nashville Leader, owned by John Robert Schirmer, in 2019. Holloway has also served as a minister for nearly 30 years. The couple moved to
Glenwood in 2023.
“We would like to thank Mike Wallace for his years of work at the Glenwood Herald, and wish him well as he enters retirement,” said Holloway. “We would also like to thank John Schirmer and the staff at the Nashville Leader for entrusting the Glenwood Herald to us. Community-minded journalism is at the heart of 3 Rivers Media and the newspapers we publish. We strive to promote the communities we serve and inform them of what is going on around them.”
Garner selected as ANF summer intern
Rosie Garner of White Hall has been selected as the 2024 Charlotte Schexnayder Journalism Intern at the Dumas Clarion
Garner is a rising senior at the Arkansas School Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts in Hot Springs, where she serves as yearbook editor, newscast director and student body vice president. In addition, she is an ASMSA admissions delegate to prospective students.
“I’ve always loved politics, but my passion for journalism is the strongest,” Garner said. Following her summer internship at the newspaper, Garner hopes in the future to work in political journalism as an editor or content director.
Garner’s position at the Dumas Clarion is part of the Arkansas Newspaper Foundation Summer Internship Program and was sponsored by donations from Arkansas Press Women, the Dumas Chamber of Commerce and Merchants & Farmers Bank of Dumas in memory of Charlotte Tillar Schexnayder, who with husband Melvin Schexnayder owned the Clarion from 1954-1998 and who was a former president of Arkansas Press Women and the National Federation of Press Women, as well as APA’s first female president.
Garner is one of three interns this summer funded through the Arkansas Newpspaper Foundation.
The APA headquarters was open from 10 a.m. to midnight on July 4 to accommodate petition dropoffs and last-minute signers.
Rosie Garner
June Freeman, wife of publisher Edmond Freeman, dies at 95
June Biber Freeman, wife of former Pine Bluff Commercial publisher Edmond Wroe Freeman, III, died July 4 in Scottsdale, Arizona. She was 95.
A native of New Jersey born to Irving and Hilda Biber, Freeman met her future husband as a graduate student studying clinical psychology at the University of Chicago. After marrying in 1950, the couple moved to Pine Bluff, where Edmond published the Pine Bluff Commercial with his brother.
Even though she was trained in psychology, Freeman’s passion was the arts. In the early 1960s, June led the effort to repurpose an old Pine Bluff fire station into the Little Firehouse Community Arts Center, which grew to become the Southeast Arkansas
Arts and Science Center, the predecessor of the Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas. From 1975 to 1980, she worked as director of state services for the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock, where she transformed a large van into a mobile art gallery that brought art to residents of small towns and rural areas. She started the Arkansas Art Council’s Arkansas Artist Registry to help artists promote their work and earned a certificate in arts administration from Harvard University.
A lifelong admirer of Japanese design, art and culture, in 1986 she founded the Pine Bluff chapter of Sister Cities International. She led several local delegations to, and welcomed delegations from, Pine Bluff’s sister city, Iwai City, now called Bando, near Tokyo.
From 1986 to 1995, Freeman wrote “Artline”, a column in the Pine Bluff Commercial.
Following Edmond’s retirement in 1995, the Freemans moved to Little Rock. In 2003 Freeman founded the nonprofit Architecture and Design Network, which offers free and open-to-the-public lectures by renowned architects, and served as its director for 13 years. After she stepped down in 2016, the network’s board named the series the June Freeman Lecture Series in her honor.
Freeman served on the boards of several institutions, including the Arkansas Arts
Evening Times reporter foils latenight burglary attempt at AT&T
A reporter for the Evening Times in West Memphis foiled an attempted burglary of the AT&T Central Hub on July 4.
Donald Wilburn was working late at the second-story offices of the Evening Times, next door to the AT&T Central Hub, when he heard strange noises behind the building.
Wilburn opened a window to hear voices, and, fearing someone was trying to break into the first floor, yelled he had called the police. He immediately heard two sets of
footsteps running away into the darkness.
Once downstairs, Wilburn found power tools, fiber optic cables, large compressor tanks and other items that had apparently been abandoned by the would-be thieves mid-heist. He also found a large hole cut into the fence joining the two properties, as well as bolt cutters.
Police arrived on the scene to take the report and guard the equipment until the property owners could be reached.
Council, the Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women, the Arkansas Arts Center (now the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts), the Arts & Science Center of Southeast Arkansas, the Mid-America Arts Alliance and the Pine Bluff Orchestra. She was a lifetime distinguished member of the UAMS Psychiatric Institute Advisory Board. She received numerous accolades and awards during her lifetime, including the Award of Merit from the Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 2013, and was a two-time recipient of the Governor’s Arts Award, once for Outstanding Patron in 1985 and again for Lifetime Achievement in 2018. She was inducted into the Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame in 2017.
In 2005, at the age of 77, she hiked to the 12,000-foot summit of Mount Fuji. Following Edmond’s death in 2021, she moved to Scottsdale, Arizona.
In addition to her parents, Freeman was predeceased by her husband of 70 years. She is survived by daughter Gretchen Freeman and husband Alan Silverman of Phoenix, Arizona, son Andrew Freeman and wife Joyce Freeman of Frisco, Texas, son David Freeman and wife Ellen Kunes of Salisbury, Connecticut and son Eric Freeman and wife Rachel Miller of Carmel, California. Arrangements are pending, with a celebration of life planned for a later date.
Space for lease
A three-room office suite totaling 580 square feet on the second floor of the Arkansas Press Association building in Little Rock is available to lease.
The building is located at 411 South Victory Street, within walking distance of the Arkansas State Capitol. Amenities include free off-street parking and access to the kitchenette upstairs. Also included is use of the downstairs conference room and kitchen for meetings and events.
Email ashley@arkansaspress.org for more information and lease details.
June Freeman
Arkansas SPJ to present annual Diamond Awards on July 24
The Arkansas Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists will present its 2024 Diamond Journalism Awards following a reception at the Ron Robinson Theater in Little Rock on July 24.
This year’s contest drew 538 entries in 82 categories, including divisions that
recognize professional journalism, student journalism and communications. SPJ members from Pennsylvania and Florida judged the competitions.
The reception will begin at 5 pm, followed by the awards presentation at 6 p.m. Featured presenters are Arkansas’s longest
running anchor team Kevin Kelly and Donna Terrell of KLRT Fox 16.
Tickets to the event are $30 for SPJ members, $35 for nonmembers and $25 for students.
Visit link to purchase: https://bit.ly/4cIq8Zb.
Two Reps sign on as new co-sponsors of Community News Act
Two more Congressional representatives have signed on as co-sponsors of the Community News & Small Business Support Act (H.R. 4756), according to America’s Newspapers.
Newly added as co-sponsors are Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-12) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX-35), bringing the number of sponsors/co-sponsors to 48.
The act was introduced in the 118th Congress by Congresswoman Claudia
Tenney (NY-24) and Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-1), both members of the Ways and Means Committee.
The bipartisan legislation supports two institutions critical to sustaining hometown communities: local news organizations and small businesses. The act makes refundable tax credits available to local newspapers to reinvest in professional journalists who cover local news topics.
The act also makes non-refundable tax
credits available to local businesses that advertise with local newspapers, providing an additional stimulus to the local economy.
Dean Ridings, CEO of America’s Newspapers, thanked the Congressional representatives for their support of local newspapers and businesses, saying their support is critical to the success of local communities and to democracy.
America’s Newspapers, along with other leading media organizations, has led the call for support of the local news industry through legislative efforts. Local news is non-partisan and fundamental to the fabric of their communities. The Community News & Small Business Support Act is intended to provide support to community newspapers. National media outlets are not eligible. Additionally, the act will bring back local jobs to community newsrooms, strengthen Main Street businesses and increase access to information that reflects hometown values.
Learn more about the Community News & Small Business Support Act at newspapers. org/support-community-news/
Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX-35)
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-12)
I remember talking about sales presentations with Edwin, who is the marketing director of a regional advertiser. “I’ve heard all kinds of presentations from media salespeople and I’ve asked plenty of questions during those conversations,” he said. “One of the best answers I’ve ever heard is, I don’t know. I’m not talking about I don’t know with a nonchalant shrug that says, ‘I don’t know and I don’t care’ or ‘That’s not my job.’ I’m talking about a sincere I don’t know that expresses regret that they honestly don’t know the answer to the question. That kind of response is usually followed by a commitment to find the answer. They’re not trying to fool me with information that may be incorrect and they’re not trying to gloss over the question in order to move on to another sales point.”
When said with unquestioned sincerity, I don’t know sends important messages. Let’s take a closer look.
1. Respect. First of all, I don’t know shows respect for everyone involved –the prospect, the prospect’s company, the salesperson’s company and the salesperson.
Guest Column: AD-LIBS:
“I don’t know” can be a great answer
By John Foust
You may remember the famous song “Respect.” Otis Redding wrote and recorded it in 1965, and Aretha Franklin recorded it two years later. Aretha added these lyrics, which have rocked through the ages: “R-ES-P-E-C-T. Find out what it means to me. R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Take care of it. TCB.”
TCB means, “Take care of business.” Believe me, there’s no better way to take care of business than to show genuine respect when meeting with prospects and clients.
2. Honesty. We all appreciate honesty. In fact, it’s safe to say that we require honesty in a relationship, whether it’s in our personal or professional lives. When a salesperson readily admits that they don’t know the answer to every question that could possibly be asked, it establishes a new level of trust between the two people. Along the way, the prospect is more likely to take the salesperson’s words more seriously.”
3. Opportunity. I don’t know is not a sign of weakness. In reality, it represents a wide range of opportunities and puts the salesperson in position to be a hero. They can say, “I don’t know right now, but I’ll find out,” or “I can’t answer your question,
but I’ll refer you to someone who can help,” or “I don’t know, but give me a minute to call my manager (or creative department/ research department/etc.) and see if there is some special information on that.”
4. Confidence. It takes inner strength to say I don’t know. “When you express yourself with that kind of honesty and commitment to help,” Edwin said, “it’s an impressive thing. As an advertiser, I want to deal with media representatives who believe in their products and in themselves. And I want them to have confidence in the people around them.”
The point is simple: There’s nothing wrong with saying I don’t know. It can open doors to better client relationships.
(c) Copyright 2024 by John Foust. All rights reserved.
John Foust has conducted training programs for thousands of newspaper advertising professionals. Many ad departments are using his training DVDs to save time and get quick results from in-house training. Email for information: john@johnfoust.com.
