Arkansas Publisher Weekly: July 27, 2023

Meredith Oakley, “lioness of Arkansas journalism”, dies at 72

Guest Column:

By Frank Wallis

Arkansas Press Association Publisher Weekly

Vol.18 | No. 30 | Thursday, July 27, 2023 | Serving Press and State Since 1873

Mary Fisher, ANF board member and APA Past President, dies

Dardanelle Post-Dispatch and Yell County Record managing editor and co-publisher Mary Mae Fowler Fisher, of Danville, died Saturday afternoon, July 22, 2023. She was 73.

Along with husband David Fisher, she coowned four newspapers: the Yell County Record in Danville, the Dardanelle PostDispatch, the Conway County Petit Jean Country Headlight in Morrilton and the Perry County Petit Jean Country Headlight in Perryville.

Both APA Past Presidents, the Fishers had just participated in the Friday evening gavel-passing and Saturday morning Past Presidents’ Breakfast at the 2023 APA Convention.

Her newspaper career, which spanned

more than five decades, started in 1965 with an after-school job with the Yell County Record in Danville.

In a 2014 interview with APA upon her installation as President, Fisher remembered the early days. “Initially I was in charge of getting the papers mailed on Thursday afternoon. Then, the rest of the week I finishing up job work, like wrapping and delivering. The next thing I did was a society column – I’d call people and see who had visited who.” She also recalled cleaning the Linotype machine.

At the time of her death, she was serving on the Arkansas Newspaper Foundation board, a position she accepted in 2007. She served also on the National

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Mary Fisher takes the gavel from Frank Fellone as Rusty Fraser, Tom White and Rusty Turner wait their turns at the Past Presidents’ Gavel Passing on Friday evening.

Mary Fisher

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Newspaper Association Foundation Board and the APA board. She served concurrent terms as APA President and ANF President in 2014-15.

Her industry colleagues issued statements in memory of her legacy.

“The Fisher family has been a staple in Arkansas journalism for as long as I can remember,” said APA Executive Director Ashley Kemp Wimberley. “Few people have such a commitment to community service and community journalism as Mary Fisher. The value of her work on both the Arkansas Newspaper Foundation and Arkansas Press Association boards cannot be downplayed. We laughed for many years about her not knowing how to say ‘no’ when asked to serve on a board or committee...but she wouldn’t have had it any other way. She was a mentor to me and a valuable friend.”

“I first met Mary while serving as president of the Arkansas Newspaper Foundation board of directors,” said Karen Brown. “She quickly became an important part of my life. More than anything, Mary will be remembered for the impact she had on others. She had the ability to bring the best out of everyone, and her kindness and generosity, along with her infectious spirit touched the lives of so many.”

“I was honored to work with Mary on the Arkansas Newspaper Foundation board and alongside her as a journalist,” said Byron Tate, editor of the Pine Bluff Commercial and APA Past President. “Her spirit ran deep, as did her sense of humor. I will deeply miss her.”

“I have been friends with Mary and her husband David for many years, and I will miss her so very much,” said Rusty Fraser, publisher of the Stone County Leader in Mountain View and current Arkansas Newspaper Foundation Board President. “She was a valuable Arkansas Foundation Director and a past APA president and a credit to the newspaper industry.”

The Fishers, a fourth-generation newspaper family, purchased the Post-Dispatch in January 2014. It had previously been owned

by David’s parents, R. L. “Bob” and Jean Fisher, but was sold in the 1960s. The newspaper, published continuously since 1853, is the oldest weekly in Arkansas and one of the oldest west of the Mississippi River, and each week Fisher combed the archives for interesting historical items to include in her reader-favorite “Years Ago” columns.

Fisher had a deep commitment to the communities she covered. Upon becoming managing editor of the Post-Dispatch, Fisher devoted herself to the Dardanelle Rotary Club and the Dardanelle Chamber of Commerce, while never leaving behind her commitments to Danville, Belleville and the southern side of the county.

In addition to her newspaper work, she had a great love for Scouting. Being “volunteered” to become a Cub Scout Leader by her son in the early 1980s began more than 40 of service to the Boy Scouts of America. She assisted David Fisher for more than 15 years in the Danville Boy Scouts, during which they had 10 boys become an Eagle Scout, the highest rank a Boy Scout can achieve.

She was the first woman Scoutmaster in Westark Area Council of the extended training of adult leaders called Wood Badge, and served as Southern Region Wood Badge Chair since 2013. Fisher was Scoutmaster of the National Junior Leadership Training and served as Council Vice President of the Boy Scouts of America for the Westark Area Council for more than 15 years. She went on to become the training chairman of the 14-state Southern Region of Boy Scouts and was invited on multiple occasions to teach in the training center at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. She received the second-highest award, the Silver Antelope, given by the National Boy Scouts for her work in training Scout Leaders and Boy Scouts and received the Vigil Honor, the highest honor that the Order of the Arrow, BSA’s honor society, can bestow upon its members for service to lodge, council, and Scouting.

According to her family, her greatest joy in Scouting was

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David and Mary Fisher outside the Yell County Record office in 2014.

Mary performs in the 2012 APA Convention Talent Show as APA Past Presidents Louie Graves and Jay Edwards look on.

Meredith Oakley, “lioness of Arkansas journalism”, dies at 72

Former Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Associate Editor and Voices page editor Meredith Lynn Oakley died July 19 at her home in Little Rock. She was 72.

Details on her personal life are scarce. She was born in Portland, Ore. on June 9, 1951 to the late Thomas and Margaret Puckett, and was a 1969 graduate of North Little Rock High School.

It was while writing for the Hi-Comet, the NLRHS school newspaper, that she found her calling. Oakley was quoted in 1997 obituary of NLRHS English, creative writing and journalism teacher Katye Lou Russell, saying, “I wanted to be an editor, but she made me a columnist. She showed me that I had an ability and she showed me how to use it.” Oakley went on to study journalism at Arkansas State College, now the University of Central Arkansas.

Oakley joined the staff of the Arkansas Democrat in 1976, beginning, as the Arkansas Times wrote, “a 35-year career in which she made her name as a scathingly honest critic of those in power.” She was known as being an especially tough critic of the Arkansas Legislature and of then-Governor and later-President Bill Clinton, of whom her disdain gained her national attention. She was a contributor to C-SPAN during the 1980s and 1990s, and her book, “On the Make: The Rise of Bill Clinton” was published in June 1994.

She was often called the “right-hand-man” of the Democrat’s Managing Editor, John Robert Starr, and stood at his side during the newspaper war of the 80s and 90s, as the Democrat overtook the Arkansas Gazette. It was said that the newspaper war gave Oakley vigor and she needed to be in competition to feel at her best. After the dust settled and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette emerged, Oakley was named Associate Editor and was charged with the Voices page, into which she breathed new life.

In a memorial editorial published the day after her death, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette wrote, “Her column was an almost-daily feature of this paper. And for her day job, she ran the Voices page –– like a drill sergeant. In fact, a smarty-pants editorial writer once told her, to her face, that she was like U.S. Army toilet paper: Rough, tough, and didn’t take much off anybody. She beamed. She took it as the compliment it was meant to be. And it may have made her week, her month, her year. She repeated it several times that day to make sure others heard it. She seemed elated, encouraged by such descriptions.”

Oakley was a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, Arkansas Pro Chapter and served as SPJ Region 12 Director from 1987 to 1991.

Carla Koen, a former copy editor at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and former editor of Little Rock Monthly magazine, said, “Meredith was enigmatic. I saw her in the newsroom every day and that formed my view of her as tough, dedicated and one of the few women in the news business who found a shred of equality. Than, I got to know her during Farkleberry Follies, (the biennial gridiron show staged by SPJ from 1967-1999 to fund journalism scholarships). Boy, was I ever glad I did. Her fun, silly, musical side was as big - or bigger - than that ‘bitchy’ persona she was known for.”

Oakley was also known as a fierce defender of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. Eric J. Francis, former managing editor of the North Little Rock Times, said Oakley was “a hard-nosed newspaperwoman who never put anyone ahead of her readers, the people of Arkansas. We served together on the FOIA Coalition and testified at the state legislature against laws that would weaken the people’s right to know. She never gave an inch, because she understood all too well how many miles legislators and special interests would grab in return.”

Oakley left the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in March 2011. In her final column she wrote, “My old boss and mentor, the late John R. Starr, once chided that loyalty was both my greatest attribute and my greatest fault. He was wrong. If I am anything in great abundance, it is stubborn. I don’t give up or give in easily. ...It always made me smile whenever a colleague would remark that, in researching a bit of Arkansas governmental or political history, he or she had come across an old byline of mine. It makes me smile now to consider that someday others may do the same. They won’t know or care who I was, but my name will be there regardless. It’s as close to immortality as I’m ever going to come in this life, but it will suffice.”

No survivors or service details were announced.

Meredith Oakley at a “toast and roast” of Arkansas state representative Bill Foster, May 1988. Pictured with Oakley is Sen. Knox Nelson, Betsey Wright, Rep. Foster, John Robert Starr, and Rep. John Paul Capps. Photo from the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.

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attending the National Boy Scout Jamboree, held every 4 years, eight times. She cochaired the Hometown News division, which trained Scouts as news correspondents in order to share their first-person Jamboree experience with their local news organizations back home.

Fisher also had a love for those she met through Extension Homemakers. She served as president of Spring Creek EH Club and the county council, and in 2014 was president of the Arkansas Extension Homemakers while serving simultaneously as APA President. She was chair of the 2019 EH National Volunteer Outreach Network event in Springdale, which drew attendees from across the country.

In whatever spare time she had left, she worked with the Danville Chamber of Commerce, Yell County Fair Board, World War II Memorial Committee, Southgate Committee to Mt. Magazine and as Belleville High Class Reunion chairman. She was a previous president of the Danville B&PW, the Danville Jaycettes and the Arkansas Jaycettes, and went on to become the first U.S. Jaycette Secretary.

She also served on the Danville School Board for several years, including two years as chapter president.

In addition to her parents, Robert and Maxine Fowler of Belleville, she was preceded in death by her brother, Wayne Fowler.

She is survived by her husband, David W. Fisher, her son, David B. “Davy” Fisher and his wife, Rachael Fisher; sisters Jan Huntley and Ann Bryant and husband Jim Bryant; brother Tom Fowler and wife Lio Fowler; granddaughters Ally Fisher, Ella Fisher, and Livi Nachtigal; grandson Kenton Nachtigal; two nieces, a nephew and a large extended family.

Visitation was Wednesday at Cornwell Funeral Home. A memorial service was held at the Danville High School Ted Lyons Gymnasium today. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Arkansas Newspaper Foundation, 411 South Victory Street, Little Rock, AR 72201.

APA members celebrate 150th anniversary at 2023 convention

Mary was a dedicated Scouter for decades.

Mary and David Fisher this past Saturday morning following the Past Presidents’ Breakfast at the APA Convention.

Jeremy Gulban and CherryRoad Media staff at Friday night Honorees’ Reception

Immediate Past President Lori Freeze presents incoming APA President Eliza Gaines with the APA Past Presidents’ Award.

Thursday night Open House & Cocktail Hour at APA Headquarters

Dinner and music with Jesse MacLeod at Cotham’s in the City

APA Convention & Trade Show, DoubleTree Hilton Little Rock

APA Honorees’ Reception at the DoubleTree Hilton Little Rock

APA Special Awards, Gavel Passing & Installation of APA President

We the people in the newspaper business think a lot about what people need to know.

Who died is a staple of local news. The obituary section has long been sacred news space for newspapers.

Birth announcements were once a part of almost every issue.

At other newspapers where I’ve worked, we made tracks weekly to the county clerk’s office to collect and publish the marriage record. Marriage is a contract mostly between men and women. Your banker may want to know if you’re married. Your insurance agent may want to know if you have an insurable interest in another person like, say, a spouse.

The record of sales tax collections has been the subject of news stories. That record enables reporters and readers to make month-by-month and years-prior comparisons. It should give interested parties some inkling of the health of the retail economy.

Published records of building permits within an incorporated area helps readers see residential and commercial growth, or not. Building in unincorporated areas is trackable, too. Every structure that contains a flushable toilet is supposed to have a septic tank. The county sanitarian issues permits for installation of septic tanks. The state department of health is the custodian of that record.

On the warm and fuzzy side, papers once

Guest Column: It’s what we do

By Frank Wallis

published more wedding announcements and anniversaries.

News people will attend and write about public meetings of governing bodies for cities, counties and schools. We do that religiously, so much so that citizens seldom ever attend those meetings. We like to think it’s because they know that can get a tight summary of the meetings in the newspaper. That’s a bit of a misfortune for the citizen because most governing bodies, whether compelled by law or good will, offer a little bully pulpit of sorts to anyone who wants to air a grievance or praise.

We publish letters to the editor, too. We publish profiles of people who seek election to public office. We see right away what happens when every newspaper in the country is asleep at the wheel. A lack of basic journalism gave the U.S. Congress a character like U.S. Rep. George Santos of Long Island, New York. New York Times where were ye?

Kids performing well enough academically to make the honor roll will find their names in the paper.

We publish announcements of gospel revivals and vacation bible school.

On the ugly side, we printed weekly COVID-19 statistics until they became unavailable under the current state administration. Just because the numbers aren’t there doesn’t mean the virus is gone. Some readers might want to know

how fast Paxlovid works — pretty darned fast for at least one survivor.

Some want to know if the heat will kill us.

Murder trumps all. We will publish murder stories and the status of the murderer. Murder has been at the top of news copy since Cain killed Abel. Surely Cain the perp would have liked for the murder of his brother to have been kept out of the paper. But there’s Cain and his dirty deed near the top of the story.

I’ll hang with a murder story just long enough to learn the killing didn’t happen in my neighborhood. Then, I’ll move on to the Mountain View Stinger wrestling news and then to quiz bowl news.

News people understand that what people need to know doesn’t always jibe in the moment with what they want to know. We try to give readers a mix of happenings in every issue.

If a football or basketball story doesn’t compel you to buy a copy of the Leader, we hope the new selections at the library will.

It’s what we do.

Frank Wallis has been an Arkansas journalist most of professional life with career stops at the Batesville Guard, the Arkansas Democrat, the Baxter Bulletin and the Stone County Leader. Contact him at:

cfw0722@yahoo.com