Arkansas Publisher Weekly: August 31, 2023

By Jerry Bellune

Beebe News serving southern White County for 55 years

Lee McLane says it seems as though she attended every institution of higher learning in Arkansas on her route to obtaining a college degree.

“I think I ended up with enough hours to obtain about four bachelor’s degrees,” she said with a laugh.

The myriad courses she took ultimately resulted in a degree in business from Harding University in 1981, then a master’s in business administration from Webster University. Finally, she arrived full circle where she began – at her family’s newspaper in Beebe.

“The amazing thing is that I never took a

single journalism course,” McLane said. The roundabout trail seems to have turned out well, however, as McLane is now in her 42nd year at the newspaper.

Her father, Robert Lee Kemp, purchased the Beebe News and the Bald Knob Banner in 1968 and the family moved to Beebe from North Little Rock. McLane was entering her senior year in high school. “It was quite a transition going from a class of 1,500 to one of 67,” she said. “But I was ready for a new adventure.”

Her father grew up in Clinton and always had an interest in journalism. “At an early age, he said he wanted to own a small

newspaper,” McLane said.

He went to college at Arkansas Tech and Northwestern University and served in the military during World War II. His twin brother was killed in the war while flying as a bombardier.

Kemp worked at the Arkansas Democrat and the Commercial Appeal in Memphis before beginning a 25-year career as news director at Channel 4 in Little Rock.

He later worked in public relations at the Arkansas Dept. of Human Services. “My father took me on several visits with people who were disadvantaged and that had a big impact on me,” McLane said. “He was a very empathetic man and had such a big heart.

“He really could see everybody as equal and treated everyone the same way,” she said. “I have not always lived up to his example in that regard, but I have really tried.”

McLane graduated from Beebe High School, studied briefly in x-ray technology, was married and had a son and moved back to Beebe.

She started college at ASU-Beebe in pre-med, one of her many academic endeavors, and worked part-time at her

Lee McLane with her cat, Simba.

McLane

Continued from page 2

father’s newspaper.

After eventually receiving her degrees, she decided to team up with her father, working full-time at the newspaper. He retired in 1990 and McLane purchased the publication. Kemp died only a year after his retirement.

“I guess at one time I thought I knew everything, but found out that wasn’t the case,” McLane said. “Now I have a saying that ‘you don’t know what you don’t know.’ I guess sometimes that’s a blessing.”

McLane soon learned the role of community journalist suited her personality and goals.

“As evidenced by all the different courses I took in college, and all the potential majors, apparently I get bored very easily,” she said with a laugh. “In the weekly newspaper field, there is a definite routine, but there is always something different. You never know what you might be doing or who you might be meeting. I really like that.”

One constant has been McLane’s personal column, “What’s Left?” “It’s based on the fact that I am left-handed, but it is also because my brain is always fighting as to which side has prominence,” she joked.

“I have written one every week since 1990,” she said. “I just sit down to the computer and things start coming out. People will meet me and tell me they enjoyed this week’s column, and I will ask them, ‘what did I say?’”

“I guess you could call it a letter to the community and also to my relatives,” she said. “I am a huge animal lover and at the bottom of every column is a cat with a Santa hat on.” Part of that reference is that McLane was born on Christmas day.

McLane has seen a lot of changes in her more than four decades at the newspaper.

“When I started, we were still doing paste-up,” she said. “We got our first McIntosh computer in 1983. It was a little scary at first, but once you got used to it, it was so much better, easier and faster.

“Of course, the internet has been a big factor in recent years, and there is both good and bad with that, as every newspaper knows.” She remembers the earlier times when 15 or 20 cars would line up at the newspaper office to be among the first to purchase each Wednesday’s edition as soon as possible. “Those definitely were the good old days,” she said.

Over the years, the Beebe News normally has printed 10-12 pages each week. That dropped to eight pages and, recently, McLane has settled for six pages to reduce printing costs. She is the only full-time staffer, but has an office assistant, and her son, Christian

McLane, works part-time. Contributors also have been lined up to help with sports and history features.

Circulation has held up well, and currently runs about 2,500 each week. The newspaper is printed at The Leader office in Jacksonville.

McLane acknowledged that advertising revenue is a challenge in a changing newspaper environment. She said political advertising, and promotions such as the recent back-to-school, help.

“I have to recognize that our businesses in a small town are just like me. They have to compete with the internet and I understand,” she said.

The community at one point adopted a motto, “Beebe, Your Dream Hometown,” and McLane believes that is appropriate.

Beebe has more than doubled its population in recent years to about 10,000. McLane notes it is conveniently located along major highways with easy access to Little Rock, Conway and Searcy.

“In many ways, we have a perfect little town,” McLane said. “It really is a good place to live.”

She cited ASU-Beebe and Stallion Transportation as positive factors in the community and believes “our local school system is definitely in the top 10 percent in the state.”

McLane currently is in her fourth year of service on the Beebe City Council. Since she is the sole reporter at the newspaper, she writes the council meeting articles each month. “I try really hard to be fair,” she said. “I have not had any real complaints, except for some of the usual troublemakers.”

A major event in the history of Beebe occurred on Jan. 21, 1999. That’s when an F3 tornado ripped through the community, killing two and injuring 29, while destroying many historic homes and toppling century-old trees.

A newly-completed junior high building was heavily damaged and a nearby gymnasium was destroyed. Then-President Bill Clinton visited the community to survey the damage and offer assistance.

McLane wrote a history book on the tornado, entitled “Night of Devastation,” sharing first-hand accounts and photos of the twister’s damage. She and her family had just enough warning to huddle in a closet in their home as the storm hit.

The success of that book prompted a decision to compile a second publication, “Remembering Our Past,” featuring Beebe and other communities in the southwest part of White County. Also planned is “A Look Back at Area Towns,” with photos and See McLane page 8

McLane’s second book focused on the histories of several southern White County communities.

A Greater Voic e

AMPLIFYING THE POWER OF THE PRESS.

Bank OZK proudly supports the Arkansas Press Association (APA) and its vital mission to nurture Arkansas newspapers with the knowledge and resources they need to grow and thrive. As one of the state's most esteemed professional associations for 150 years, the APA has been a powerful voice for freedom of the press. By connecting our communities through authentic and impactful content, we can unlock even greater possibilities.

MEDIA INQUIRIES

Michelle Rossow

Chief Communications O cer

michelle.rossow@ozk.com | (501) 471-8475

Tickets now available for upcoming Press Freedom Gala

Tickets are now available for the second annual Press Freedom Gala, which will be held on Thursday, Oct. 12 at the Chenal County Club in Little Rock. The evening will begin with an hors d’oeuvres reception at 6 p.m., followed by a dinner and the program at 7 p.m.

“The Press Freedom Gala is a celebration of both a free press and of individuals who brought positive headlines to Arkansas and either work within or are strong supporters of the media industry and FOIA,” said APA Executive Director Ashley Kemp Wimberley. “Freedom of the press is an essential right in the United States and a core principle of democracy, and we are excited to again draw attention to it in this way.”

This year’s honorees are as follows:

ARKANSAS PRESS ASSOCIATION

Press Freedom Gala

PRESS FREEDOM GALA

CELEBRATING SUPPORTERS OF DEMOCRACY

Chenal Country Club • Little Rock • Oct. 12, 2023

TO PURCHASE TICKETS OR A TABLE VISIT ARKANSASPRESS.ORG/GALA

Honoring

A native of Arkadelphia, he graduated summa cum laude from Ouachita Baptist University in 1982 receiving a B.A. in Mass Communications. Nelson was inducted into the Arkansas Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame and was named Rural Advocate of the Year for the state of Arkansas in 2016 by Governor Asa Hutchinson and the Arkansas Rural Development Commission.

• APA Distinguished Service Award – longtime journalist and recently retired editor of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Rusty Turner.

Rex Nelson DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

Late

Rusty Turner DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

David

• APA Headliner of the Year –multi-platinum musician and songwriter Justin Moore. A native of Poyen, Moore won Artist of the Year: Breakthrough Artist at the 2012 American Country Awards and New Artist of the Year at the 2014 Academy of Country Music Awards. He has charted 21 times on the Billboard Country Hot 100 and Country Airplay charts, including his current hit with Priscilla Block, “You, Me & Whiskey,” the number 1 singles “Small Town USA”, “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away”, “Til My Last Day,” “Lettin’ the Night Roll,” “You Look Like I Need a Drink,” “Somebody Else Will, “The Ones That Didn’t Make It Back Home,” “Why We Drink,” “We Didn’t Have Much,” and “With a Woman You Love”, and the top 10 hits “Backwoods,” “Point at You,”and “Small Town Throwdown” with Brantley Gilbert. “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away” also won Mainstream Inspirational Country Song and Inspirational Video at the 2011 Inspirational Country Music Awards. His seventh album, Stray Dog, was released in May of this year.

• APA Distinguished Service Award – Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Senior Editor and Columnist Rex Nelson. Nelson is a college sports broadcaster, columnist, reporter, author, political appointee and chronicler of Arkansas history.

Mike

Marybeth Byrd AMERICAN IDOL 2023 TOP 10 ENTERTAINMENT

Distinguished Service Award recipient Turner worked as a sportswriter, news reporter and editor at various publications in Northwest Arkansas for many decades. A 1983 graduate of the Walter J. Lemke Department of Journalism at the University of Arkansas, he worked at the The Arkansas Traveler student newspaper then later at the Springdale Morning News and the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette until his retirement in May of this year. Turner also served two years as President of the APA Board of Directors and has been instrumental in lobbying efforts to protect the state’s Freedom of Information Act laws.

• Golden 50 Service Award – Independent Columnist and Correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Mike Masterson.

Harrison native Masterson will be honored for his service to the newspaper industry for more than 50 years. His award-winning investigative journalism career has often involved critical, and even dangerous, work, providing a voice for the underdog and the unrepresented or uncovering information that resulted in the freeing of persons imprisoned by crimes they didn’t commit. For the past 23 years, he has written three personal-opinion columns a week for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

See Tickets page 8

Country Music Superstar Justin Moore

Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller ARKANSAS FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AWARD 411 S Victory St, Little Rock AR 72201

Masterson GOLDEN 50 SERVICE AWARD

Bazzel MASTER OF CEREMONIES

Chism joins Phillips Media Group as regional publisher

Beth Chism has joined Phillips Media Group as regional publisher over its Arkansas newspapers, the company recently announced.

Chism will serve as publisher for the Harrison Daily Times, the Newton County Times in Jasper and the Baxter Bulletin in Mountain Home. She will directly report to Jim Holland, president of Phillips Media and former publisher of those newspapers. Holland said he planned to remain active in the community.

Chism began her career 47 years ago as a typesetter and graphic designer for her hometown newspaper, the West Plains Daily Quill in Missouri. After moving to Mountain Home with her husband, she took a job at the Baxter Bulletin as a typesetter.

According to the announcement, Chism credits the typesetting job as real start of her career, as she learned the science behind offset printing during her time at the Baxter Bulletin

“I learned to run the pre-press department, mailroom and — I won’t say I learned to run the press — but I became knowledgeable about pressroom operations as well,” she said. A few years later, she and her husband returned to Missouri, where she began work at Lebanon Publishing Company. She spent 13 years in Lebanon, most of those years as general manager of all operations, including the newspaper printing operation.

She later became the director of advertising for The Jefferson City News Tribune, and four years after that, the advertising director for the Columbia Daily Tribune. She then spent several years in management at KTTS radio in Springfield before she and her husband started their own newspaper consulting business.

“After enjoying a rewarding career as a newspaper management professional and successfully developing and managing my own newspaper consulting business, my career objective is to offer all my knowledge, experience and talent to a respected media company with leaders who believe quality journalism, superior results for our advertisers and fair profits are still reality in our industry. I believe Phillips Media is that company,” Chism said. “Navigating a company through the challenges of the everchanging world of newspapering is not just an objective for me. It is my passion.

“Most people know about my career in advertising,” she continued. “I have studied all forms of traditional and digital advertising extensively and love to share what I know with small businesses to help them succeed; however, I also love the time I spend in the newsroom. Local news is why readers subscribe to a newspaper.”

Jeff Meek, assignments editor and correspondent at the Hot Springs Village Voice, has published a new book, “The JFK Files: Pieces of the Assassination Puzzle.”

Assassination researcher and host of the annual “JFK: The Continuing Inquiry” conference Chris Gallop called the book a “must-read for any serious researcher of the murder of President John F. Kennedy.”

“What Jeff Meek has done with his ‘The JFK Files’ columns is keep the assassination of our 35th president at the forefront of thought [through] numerous interviews with various players, participants, and important witnesses to the event of that tragic weekend,” said Gallop.

The book contains interviews with Ruth Paine, Buell Frazier, House Select Committee on Assassinations investigators Dan Hardway and Leslie Wizelman, Dr. Cyril Wecht, Secret Service Agent Mike Howard, Kennedy administration officials Sue Vogelsinger and Nancy Dutton, Assassination Records Review Board Chairman Judge John Tunheim and many other witnesses and experts, as well as a rare interview with a young Parkland Hospital intern from Nov. 22, 1963.”

Meek’s other books on the JFK assassination include “The Manipulation of Lee Harvey Oswald and the Cover-Up That Followed,” published in 2021, and “Lee Harvey Oswald: A Lone Gunman?” published in 2019.

He is also the author of “War Stories: Oral Histories of Those Who Served,” which was published earlier this year and “They Answered the Call: World War II Veterans Share Their Stories,” published in 2011.

With a forward by author and photographic expert Robert J. Groden, “The JFK Files” is available now at select local bookstores and on Amazon.com.

JEFFREY L. MEEK

Foreword by Robert J. Groden

Beth Chism

CherryRoad Media to acquire Kansas printing operations, Ohio and Indiana newspapers

CherryRoad Media Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Hutchinson, Kansas, printing operations from Gannett Co., Inc., according to an announcement made Wednesday. The transaction is expected to close on September 1.

CherryRoad Media entered the newspaper industry in late 2020 with the purchase of the Cook County News-Herald in Grand Marais, Minnesota. It has since grown to publish newspapers in 17 states, including more than 60 titles purchased from Gannett.

The Hutchinson printing operation currently prints most of CherryRoad Media’s Kansas publications as well as numerous other newspapers in central and western Kansas. All current employees of the Hutchinson plant have been offered continuing employment. The Hutchinson News is not included in the sale and will continue to be printed at the facility.

“We are very excited to be to be acquiring the Hutchinson printing operation,” said CherryRoad Media CEO Jeremy Gulban, who is also on the APA Board of Directors. “For almost two years we have worked with the talented team in Hutchinson to print our newspapers. Now we welcome them to our organization. I wish to thank the leadership at Gannett for working with us to create a stable printing solution for newspapers in Kansas and Colorado. This is a good thing for the future availability of printed newspapers in the region.”

In addition, it was announced on Thursday that CherryRoad has

acquired an Ohio commercial offset printing plant, Eagle Print, which provides offset printing and related services to customers in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Kentucky, as well as eight publications — the Delphos Herald, Van Wert Times Bulletin, the Putnam County Sentinel, the Paulding Progress, the Ada Herald, the Putnam County Vidette and the Monroe County Beacon in Ohio, and the The Register in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Most of these newspapers date to the mid- to late 1800s, with more than 150 years of history serving their respective communities.

Jeremy Gulban

“Our flagship newspaper, The Delphos Herald, has been publishing continuously since 1869 and my father, Murray Cohen, purchased this newspaper in 1962,” said Roberta Cohen, president of Delphos Herald, Inc. “It has been in our family ever since. I feel confident that I can entrust our long-held newspapers to a company that shares the same vision and values. Family-held CherryRoad is well-suited to take over the reins immediately and continue my family’s legacy.

“I’m excited to work with them on the transiting ownership while maintaining the journalism excellence that readers and advertisers have come to expect.”

Connecting People and Communities

At the heart of journalism lies an unwavering drive to improve lives. Whether chronicling the history of a community and its people, or standing as the watchdog for truth and integrity, journalists are passionate about making a difference for others. We understand

For over 140 years, AT&T has been investing in Arkansas, connecting people and communities across the state with each other and the world Congratulations

McLane

Continued from page 2 articles from the newspaper’s files.

Much of McLane’s time is devoted to caring for her mother, Naomi Kemp, who is 95. But she still manages to publish a newspaper each week and has no plans to retire in the foreseeable future.

She is especially enjoying numerous feature articles undertaken recently. One was about a Korean War veteran who had been reluctant for years to share his battle experiences. He finally agreed to the interview and his family told McLane they appreciated gaining knowledge about his life that otherwise never would have been uncovered.

“I have done a lot of military interviews and they all are very moving to me,” McLane said.

McLane is taking an online course on grant writing and sees that as a potential source of income in the future.

“But I have no plans to retire as long as I can make a living doing this,” she said.

So, essentially, this is a story of like father, like daughter – a smalltown weekly newspaper that has been in the same family for 55 years. A lot of history has been written in the pages of the Beebe News over that time. McLane loves that history and is committed to sharing it with her readers on into the future.

Tickets

Continued from page 3

• APA Freedom of Information Award – presented posthumously to Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller for his support of freedom of information and his signing of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act into law in 1967.

The Arkansas FOIA has been called “the people’s law” in that it provides the citizens of Arkansas open access to the conduct of the public’s business at every level of government, as well as ready access to public records on file with a host of custodians for those records in county courthouses, city halls, public schools, and other public facilities across the state. The award will be accepted by Rockefeller’s family, including William Rockefeller and Winthrop P. Rockefeller, Jr.

Former Arkansas Razorback linebacker and radio personality David Bazzel will serve as the master of ceremonies. Amorel native Marybeth Byrd, a 2019 The Voice semifinalist and 2023 American Idol top-10 contestant, will provide entertainment.

Tickets are $200 each or $1,500 for a reserved table for eight. Visit arkansaspress.org/gala to purchase.

If you or your organization would like to be a sponsor of the Press Freedom Gala, email ashley@arkansaspress.org for more information.

All proceeds from the event will benefit the Arkansas Newspaper Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Community News & Small Business Support Act gets first co-sponsors in a show of bipartisan approval of measure

Rep. Andre Carson (D-Indiana) and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pennsylvania) were announced on August 25 as the first official co-sponsors of HR 4756, the Community News & Small Business Support Act, America’s Newspapers reports.

This continues the trend of bipartisan support for the Act. The Community News & Small Business Support Act was introduced on July 19 by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY-24) and Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA1), both members of the House Ways and Means Committee.

The legislation supports two institutions critical to sustaining hometown communities: local news

organizations and small businesses. Much like the Local Journalism Sustainability Act, which was introduced in the 117th Congress, the Tenney-DelBene Act makes refundable tax credits available to local newspapers of up to $25,000 per journalist in the first year and up to $15,000 per journalist in the next four years. The Act also makes non-refundable tax credits available to local businesses that advertise with local newspapers of up to $5,000 in the first year and $2,500 in the next four years.

Additional co-sponsors are expected to be announced soon. Learn more at newspapers.org/supportcommunity-news/

Rep. Andre Carson Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick

News about the apparently illegal police raid on a small Kansas newspaper raises troubling questions.

First, you may ask could it happen in your town?

The short answer, says attorney and journalism professor Eric Robinson, is unfortunately yes.

People in power have been known to act vindictively against the media when they feel threatened.

The Marion police department told the Kansas Bureau of Investigation that the raid was justified on the grounds that the newspaper had been involved in the “illegal access and dissemination of confidential criminal justice information.”

The police raid on the newspaper and its owners’ home with a judge’s approval raises other questions.

Was Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody acting maliciously or in fear for his own reputation?

He may have been aware, as targets of press investigations usually find out, that the Marion Record was investigating why he had left the Kansas City Police Department before coming to their town.

According to the Kansas City Star, Cody faced discipline for allegedly making insulting and sexist comments to a female officer. She had a recording in which he

Guest Column:

Could the Kansas police raid happen in your town?

By Jerry Bellune

admitted his behavior was unprofessional. The judge who approved the search warrant may have had personal reasons of her own.

Judge Laura Viar allegedly signed the warrant because of allegations that the newspaper improperly obtained information about a local restaurant owner’s past DUI conviction. At stake was her application for a restaurant liquor license

Judge Viar has a DUI history of her own, an investigation by the Wichita Eagle found. She had been arrested at least twice for driving under the influence in two different Kansas counties.

In 2012, she allegedly drove with a suspended license and crashed into a school building but was not sanctioned by the state’s attorney discipline board.

How did she feel about the local newspaper investigating a woman restaurant owner’s DUI history?

Federal law requires law enforcement to seek subpoenas rather than search warrants in going after media materials, Robinson wrote in a note to members of the South Carolina Press Association.

For a search warrant, police must convince a judge they need an immediate search for evidence of a crime.

A subpoena, Robinson wrote, notifies the

target of the information sought with a deadline for submitting it. The target can then challenge the subpoena in court. The law provides an exception, when the media is the suspect in the investigation. That was the justification Chief Cody gave. Even more troubling is the day after the raid, the Record’s co-owner Joan Meyer, 98, collapsed and died. Her son and coowner, the Record’s editor and publisher Eric Meyer, said he felt the raid was responsible.

The police have since returned what they took, but the damage cannot be undone. As a journalist, I have covered cops and courts for more than 60 years. In almost 40 of those years, my wife and I have owned and operated our own award-winning newspapers.

We are thankful that we never ran into a situation like this one in Kansas. Law enforcement, judges and attorneys have respected that we had a job to do and appreciated that we returned their respect.

Picking fights with people who buy ink by the barrel, an elected official once told us, is not a good idea.

Retired South Carolina newspaper editor Jerry Bellune is author of “The Art of Compelling Writing.”