Guest Column:
Ad-Libs: Following through is the right thing to do
By John Foust
Arkansas Press Association Publisher Weekly
A look back at newsworthy events in 2024, continued
Last week we took one last look at January-June, 2024 and all the transformations the first half of the year brought to the state’s newspaper industry. In this week’s Arkansas Publisher Weekly we remember the noteworthy events from the second half of the year.
JULY
The 2024 APA Convention was held at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Jonesboro Red Wolf Convention Center. Speakers included Kevin Slimp, John Newby, Todd Shields, David Cuillier and Guy Tasaka Newspapers from across the state were recognized in a variety of categories at the Better Newspaper Editorial Contest. Jonathan Feldman of The Leader in Jacksonville received the FreemanGreenberg Prize for Editorial Writing. The Meredith Oakley Award was presented to Tamara Johnson, Times-Herald, Forrest City, for utilizing the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act to gather important information vital to exposing violations of the FOIA, and the Ernie Deane-Brenda Blagg Award was presented to John Allen French, Pocahontas Star Herald, for Columnist of the Year.
After a lengthy effort, petition signature collection for the Arkansas Government Disclosure Amendment and Act fell short of the total needed to qualify for the November ballot. A total of 119,480 signatures were collected for both measures, with the Act qualifying in 50
counties with 69,528 signatures and the Amendment in 35 with 58,952 signatures.
The Arkansas Newspaper Foundation selected Rosie Garner of White Hall for its summer internship program. She served as the 2024 Charlotte Schexnayder Journalism Intern at the Dumas Clarion.
The Glenwood Herald was sold to Dewayne Holloway and Gail Pitts-Holloway, coowners of Montgomery County News. Mike Wallace, whose 40-year career
included 13 years as editor of Montgomery County News and 24 years at the Glenwood Herald, retired.
Reaves & Williams Publishing Group of Cookeville, Tennessee acquired the DeWitt Era-Enterprise from Lewis County Press, Inc.
Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Arts Editor Becca Martin-Brown retired after 35 years in the industry.
Photo of the year, by Staci Vandagriff of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Continued from page 1
AUGUST
The Arkansas SPJ 2024 Diamond Awards winners were announced. APA members and media members recognized included David Barham, Neal Earley, Dale Ellis, Jennifer Ellis, Joseph Flaherty, Grant Lancaster, Brenda Looper, Stephen Swofford, Staci Vandagriff and Michael Wickline of the Arkansas DemocratGazette, Hunter Field, Antoinette Grajeda
SEPTEMBER
and Tess Vrbin of the Arkansas Advocate and Dwain Hebda of Ya!Mule Wordsmiths writing for AY Magazine, who was also named Diamond Journalist of the Year.
Natasha Jackson was named the new publisher of the DeWitt Era-Enterprise while Dawn Teer was announced as the newspaper’s new editor shortly after.
Staff at the Arkansas DemocratGazette and the Madison County Record in Huntsville took wins in the 74th annual The Green Eyeshade Awards.
The Harrison Daily Times, the Newton County Times in Jasper and The Baxter Bulletin in Mountain Home, along with 13 other newspapers in Illinois and Missouri, were sold to Carpenter
OCTOBER
Clarkesville’s The Graphic expanded its coverage to neighboring Franklin County following the announcement of the closure of The Spectator in Ozark.
The River Valley Democrat-Gazette applied for APA membership.
The third annual APA Press Freedom Gala was held October 24 in the Great Hall of the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock.
Rex Nelson, senior editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, was emcee for the evening. Guests were treated to a cocktail reception featuring music by The Rodney Block Collective prior to the dinner and awards ceremony. University of Arkansas Journalism professor Larry Foley was recognized as APA Journalism Educator of the Year and James L. “Skip” Rutherford III received the Arkansas Press Association
Media Group.
APA Executive Director Ashley Kemp Wimberley traveled to Washington D.C. with other news leaders as part of the Support Journalism Fly-In. There she met with federal legislators to discuss the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act of 2023, the Deliver for Democracy Act, the Community News and Small Business Support Act and the Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act of 2024.
The Independence County Library announced an effort to digitize its microfilm collection of the Batesville Guard, in partnership with Newspapers.com
The Courier in Russellville celebrated 100 years as a daily newspaper with a ribbon cutting reception on September 10.
Longtime press foreman Ricky Walters retired after 45 years at the Malvern Daily Record and Saline Courier in Benton.
The 113-year-old Ozark newspaper, The Spectator, printed its final issue on September 25.
Distinguished Service Award. Arkansas Foodbank was named APA Headliner of the Year. Celebrating 40 years of operation in 2024, the Foodbank was recognized for bringing good headlines to the state over the past year, serving some 200,000 Arkansans and distributing more than 42 million pounds of food annually.
Sustain the Foundation of Arkansas
APA Executive Director Ashley Kemp Wimberley meets with Sen. John Boozman (center) and America’s Newspapers CEO Dean Ridings during a legislative trip to Washington D.C. in September.
The Courier in Russellville celebrates 100 years in September.
Natasha Jackson
2024
Continued from page 2
OCTOBER (CONTINUED)
Journalism, APA’s three-year capital campaign, was announced at the Arkansas Press Freedom Gala by APA Past President Mark Magie. The $3 million goal aims to pay off the note on the APA headquarters building in the Capitol District of Little Rock, establish a firm foundation to continue the work of supporting the Arkansas newspaper industry and ensure the freedoms of press and free speech for decades to come.
Three Arkansas journalists from two publications won at the 2024 Carmage Walls Commentary Awards contest. Pine Bluff Commercial Editor Byron Tate and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Senior Editor Rex Nelson and Editorial Page Editor David Barham were all recognized at the America’s Newspapers Senior Leadership Conference. Tate won second place in the editorial writing category for newspapers with circulation of 35,000 or less. Nelson received third-place honors in the opinion column writing category for newspapers
with circulation over 35,000 while Barham was named a finalist in the editorial writing
category for newspapers with circulation over 35,000.
Larry
consistent
&
the recipient of APA’s Journalism Educator
has credited a scholarship he received from the Arkansas Press Association during his senior year of college as proof that a career in journalism was really for him. The award was presented by APA President Andrew Bagley.
See 2024 Page 4
The third annual Arkansas Press Freedom Gala was held October 24 in Little Rock.
James L. “Skip” Rutherford III was the recipient of APA’s Distinguished Service Award. His longtime friend Gerald B. Jordan, veteran journalist and professor emeritus at the University of Arkansas, presented the award. Rutherford and Jordan worked together in the late 1960s as journalism majors on the Arkansas Traveler newspaper.
Professor
Foley of the Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences School of Journalism
Strategic Media at the University of Arkansas was
of the Year Award. Foley
The Arkansas Foodbank and its CEO Brian Burton were named APA Headliner of the Year at the Arkansas Press Freedom Gala. The Foodbank’s 80 employees and 13,000 volunteers annually distribute more than 40 million pounds of food, providing
access to resources for families in need of assistance. Children as young as age 10 come to volunteer at the Arkansas Foodbank. Mitch Bettis, president and owner of Arkansas Business Publishing Group, presented the award.
2024
Continued from page 3
NOVEMBER
The two-day 2024 ArkLaMiss Conference was held November 7-8 in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The event, co-hosted by APA and Mississippi Press Association, provides resources and networking opportunities for news professionals in the tri-state area. Ryan Dohrn was this year’s keynote speaker.
Glenda Arnett-Tripp was featured for her 57 years of service at the Monroe County Argus in Brinkley.
Johnson Media Group in Forrest City purchased Times-Herald Publishing from Argent Arkansas News Media. Johnson Media Group, LLC is owned by Rob and Tamara Johnson. Tamara Johnson is the
DECEMBER
APA President Andrew Bagley and retired Helena businessman Chuck Davis, coowners of the Helena World and Monroe County Argus purchased the Mansfield Citizen and the Waldron News, both in Scott County, after the two newspapers ceased publication months earlier. They were sold earlier this year to Bunyard Media Group along with the Mena Star and DeQueen Bee. “Chuck and I are proud to be able to play a role in making sure that Scott County doesn’t become a news desert and that its residents have access to a community newspaper that focuses on their stories and does an admirable job in writing the first draft of the history in these communities,” said Bagley. “We love rural Arkansas, and the communities of Waldron and Mansfield are much like the communities of Phillips and Monroe Counties where we have newspapers.”
Arkansas Press Women announced the early deadline for its APW Professional Communications Contest for work published, posted or broadcast in 2024. With an early deadline of noon, January 29, entries submitted after that date and time are subject to additional fees. The contest features categories in all areas of communications, including writing and editing for print, broadcast or the Web; photography; graphic design; advertising; and public relations. There
editor and publisher of the Times-Herald and has been on staff at the newspaper for 34 years. The move returned the newspaper to local ownership. Johnson Media Group then bought the Courier-Index in Marianna from Horizon Publications, headquartered in Marion, Illinois later the same month.
The Arkansas State Archives worked hard in 2024 to preserve historic and current newspapers through the Arkansas Digital Newspaper Project. The ADNP team has digitized 300,000 newspaper pages since 2017. The group has a goal of adding another 100,000 to the total. The project is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and is managed by the Library of Congress.
are also categories for work appearing in college media as well as a category for college media advisers. New submission categories include Books, Short Stories and Verse, Photography, Radio/Television and Collegiate/Education.
The contest is open to all, but entry fees are lower for APW members. Anyone may join; the club is not exclusive to women only.
The final issue of Arkansas Publisher Weekly looked back on all those we lost this year. The losses included William Alvin “Bill” Whitworth, who wrote for both the Arkansas Democrat and the Arkansas
Gazette before working for the New York Herald Tribune, The New Yorker and The Atlantic, and longtime Arkansas DemocratGazette sportswriter Bob Holt who died December 4 at 65, after suffering a stroke following the Arkansas RazorbacksMissouri Tigers football game at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Missouri. Holt had covered the Razorbacks for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette since 1981. For his reporting he was named Arkansas Sportswriter of the year four times and was inducted into the Arkansas Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame in 2022.
Tamara Johnson
Rust Communications founder Gary Rust dies at 89
Gary Wayne Rust, a former Missouri State Representative who founded Rust Communications, a media company that grew to 50 newspapers in eight states, including Arkansas, died at his home in Cape Girardeau, Missouri on January 5. He was 89.
Born in Cape Girardeau in 1935 to Wayne Bradford and Eva Palmer Rust, he excelled in sports as a young man, especially in baseball and basketball. While playing second base for the American Legion baseball team, he helped bring two state championships and one national regional championship home to Cape Girardeau. As a college freshman and sophomore, his University of Missouri basketball team was ranked among the top in the nation.
He was salutatorian at University High School Prep, which was part of Southeast Missouri State University, and was awarded an athletic scholarship to the University of Missouri, where he lettered in baseball and basketball before transferring to Washington University to be closer to his high school sweetheart, the former Wendy Kurka. The couple were married on Thanksgiving Day 1955.
While holding down two part-time jobs, Rust graduated top in his retail business class with Beta Gamma Sigma, summa cum laude and Omicron Delta Kappa honors, and returned to Cape Girardeau with Wendy to begin working with his family’s retail furniture business. Over the next
10 years, Rust’s service accomplishments to the community quickly stacked up, as did the individual recognitions and honors. Among his activities, he was president of the Cape Girardeau Jaycees; vice-president of the Missouri Jaycees; president and board member of the United Fund; member of the Cape Girardeau Historical Association; vice-president of the Cape Executive Club; three-term board member of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce; member of the Southeast Missouri Hospital Association; recipient of the Cape Distinguished Service Award as Outstanding Young Man of the Community; State Award as Outstanding Young Man of Missouri; president of his
children’s PTA; member of the National Home Furnishings Board Governmental Affairs Committee; member of the Cape Chamber Aviation Committee; Centenary Church choir member; trustee of the Missouri Council on Economic Education; member of the Rotary Board of Directors; and member of the Salvation Army Board.
In 1969, the furniture store he co-managed was recognized as the Outstanding Furniture Store in the country in cities under 50,000 population. About the same time, Rust also decided to follow his calling into public service and politics, and bought interest in a small weekly newspaper as an
See Rust Page 8
Gary Rust
Pea Ridge Times celebrates 59 years at center of community
The Pea Ridge Times recently celebrated 59 years of covering the growing Northwest Arkansas community. First published January 1, 1966, the newspaper has seen several leadership changes and relocations throughout the years but has remained dedicated to keeping citizens informed. The Times has printed more than 3,000 issues to date and continues to print weekly.
James (Jim) and Marge Edgmon brought the newspaper to life under the name Pea Ridge Graphic. The first year, the Edgmons published the newspaper in the basement of their Springdale home with their teenage children. The next year, it was purchased by Earle and Billie Jines after Billie became a regular contributor.
“We did buy the paper — stripped,” Billie
wrote in 1988. “That is, for the price we paid, we received a second class mailing permit, membership in the Arkansas Press Association and about 370 subscribers. The purchase date was Jan. 1,1967, the day the paper was one year old.”
About a decade later, the Jineses sold the Graphic Scene to Howell and Donna Spencer Medders of Rogers in February 1976 who then sold it again in September 1978 to E.B. (Jack) and Mary Lou Beisner
The Beisners changed the name twice during their ownership — first to the Pea Ridge Country Times, then to The Times of Northeast Benton County. Mary Lou sold the newspaper in November 1987, just two years after her husband had a heart attack and declined in health until his death in January 1986. Mike and Barbara
APA welcomes new director of communications
APA welcomes Lance Brownfield as its new director of communications. He will handle the graphic design for weekly publications Arkansas Publisher Weekly and Arkansas Newspaper Connection, build ads for clients and complete other writing and communications tasks to further the association’s mission “to promote the interests of the press by securing unity of thought and action.”
Brownfield, who has previously been featured in Arkansas Publisher Weekly as an intern through the Arkansas Newspaper Foundation, began his journalism career as a freelance photojournalist for the Malvern
Freeman bought the newspaper and held it until they sold it in March of 1999 to Community Publishers Inc. CPI was a group of newspapers based in Bentonville.
Ten years later, a merger between the newspapers and the Arkansas DemocratGazette led to the formation of Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC, which now publishes The Times.
Although the business office of The Times, on North Curtis Avenue, closed in June 2014, the newspaper continues to inform the readers of Pea Ridge and Northeast Benton County.
Daily Record in the summer of 2017. He later returned to the MDR for a short stint as editor-in-chief.
He worked for other APA member publications including The Sentinel-Record in Hot Springs and AY Media Group. He is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, serving a year as secretary for the Arkansas Pro chapter and a year as secretary and newsletter editor for the SPJ’s Freelance Community. He has also written freelance for international outlets such as the South China Morning Post, The Diplomat and China Christian Daily
“It’s an honor to be part of the association which is on the frontlines of protecting press freedom and democracy in our state,” he said. “As a lifelong Arkansan, I feel blessed to have such a solid team fighting every day for the truth. I pray we continue to reap the benefits of an unencumbered press and that I rise to the challenges set before me.”
Outside of work, Brownfield enjoys spending time with his wife Claire, playing old video games and is currently learning Norwegian.
Retired editor Lynda Hollenbeck dies at 84
Lynda Lou Hollenbeck Award-winning former senior editor of The Saline Courier, Lynda Lou Hollenbeck, died January 5. She was 84.
She was a 2018 recipient of APA’s Golden 50 Service Award. Over her career at the Benton newspaper, she interviewed such notables as Burt Reynolds and Robert Goulet and covered every election affecting Saline County since 1970, in addition to community news and events.
A full obituary will be in next week’s Arkansas Publisher Weekly.
Lance Brownfield
Former Log Cabin
Democrat account executive dies
Former Log Cabin Democrat sales team member John Hardin Reno, died Dec. 6, 2024 in Conway. He was 82.
Reno was born in Malvern on May 2, 1942 to Hardin Vance Reno and Virginia Cox Reno.
His career in sales and marketing also led him to work at Universal Nolin and Choice Point One. He graduated from Conway High School in 1960 and earned a bachelor of arts in speech from Arkansas State Teachers College (now UCA) in 1965. There he was a disc jockey for KCON, a radio station on campus and was president of Alpha Psi Omega drama fraternity. While in college, he also met his wife Judy Keathley Reno who he recently celebrated 59 years of marriage. The couple had two children, John Christopher Reno and Jamie Ryan as well as three grandchildren.
LET US KNOW
Any updates? Send your staffing changes to info@arkansaspress.org to be updated online and included in the Arkansas Publisher Weekly.
Rust
Continued from page 6 outlet for commentary.
In 1970, he announced his candidacy for Congress but was not elected. Instead, he left the family furniture business and focused his energy on his newspaper, to provide fair and accurate news reporting while serving the retail advertising community with a powerful vehicle to deliver their messages to consumers.
Before he could dedicate himself fulltime to the newspaper world, however, he was appointed to an open seat representing Cape Girardeau in the Missouri General Assembly. He would later be overwhelmingly re-elected State Representative three more times and serve on the important conference committees on reorganization and appropriations.
As a Representative in Jefferson City, he was known for his dogged study of the issues and his sense of public service and political fairness. His weekly newspaper columns often touched upon his official duties in Jefferson City and outlined his belief that government policy should be decided not on the basis of partisanship, but on the merits of the issues. He frequently expressed his opinion that the American people could be trusted to make the best decisions if they were simply given fair and accurate information.
In 1978, with business competition threatening the small weekly newspaper he had grown into a trio of total marketcoverage, multi-weekly newspapers in Southeast Missouri, he decided not to run again for State Representative. To his colleagues in the Missouri House, he explained succinctly: “Normally, decisions of this type are made because of personal, physical, business, financial or family reasons … and this is the case with mine. I have always been an advocate of the competitive, free-enterprise system, and Friday it became apparent that a new competitive development affecting my business would require my full and undivided attention.”
From that time on, Rust dedicated himself to the media industry, bringing a visionary strategy of creating strategic marketing zones throughout rural areas, and along with a group of talented executives, including each of his children at one time
or another, grew Rust Communications to 50 newspapers in eight states, read by more than a million people. In 2003, he retired from day-to-day operations and transferred management to sons Jon and Rex as co-presidents and continued to serve as chairman of the board, most active in the Southeast Missourian’s editorial positions. He continued to come into the office at least weekly until September 2024.
Rust’s newspapers won hundreds of state and national awards, including the top community service awards from the national United Way, the Missouri State Teachers Association, the Associated Press, the Suburban Newspapers of America and the Inland Press. Three times between 2006 and 2016, while he was chairman of the board, the Southeast Missourian was recognized as one of the top four newspapers - including as top newspaperin the nation for a community its size.
In 1993, Rust Communications was recognized by the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce with its Industry of the Year Award. In 1999, he was honored with the highest award in the newspaper industry given by the Suburban Newspapers of America. In 2002, he was recognized with the Rush H. Limbaugh Award by the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, and later in the same year by the Inland Press Association with its highest individual honor, the Ralph D. Casey Award. In 2003, he was inducted into the Missouri Press Hall of Fame. In 2004, he and his wife Wendy were recognized by Southeast Missouri State University as “Friend of the University.” In 2009, he received the Silver Medal Award from Tri-State Advertising and Marketing Professionals for his service and support of individuals in media and marketing. In 2011, he received The Missourian Award for his contributions to the state and nation in civics, business and politics. In 2019, he was the inaugural recipient of the Drury Family Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award by the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce.
Rust served the public and his industry in official board capacities over the years. Among them are the Southeast Missouri State University Foundation, University of Missouri Publications, Certified Audit of
See Rust Page 9
John Hardin Reno
Andrew Bagley named Kiwanian of the Year Rust
APA President Andrew Bagley was recently named Kiwanian of the Year by the Kiwanis Club of Phillips County.
The club released a statement on Facebook in December honoring Bagley.
“The Kiwanis Club of Phillips County named Andrew Bagley, the Co-Owner and Publisher of the Helena World, as its Kiwanian of the Year at its annual Christmas party last week that was held at the Heritage Hill Manor. Bagley, a member of
the organization’s board and the chairman of is Membership/Program committee, was responsible for lining up the club’s weekly speaker in 2024.”
The article noted he is “very active in community affairs,” serving as vice chairman of the Phillips County Library Board, chairman of the Phillips-Lee-Monroe Regional Library Board and chairman of the Helena-West Helena Housing Authority Board in addition to his APA board duties.
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Circulations, Missouri Commission on Civil Rights, Southeast Missouri State University President Search Committee, the Missouri State Government Review Commission and the Cape Girardeau Community College Steering Committee. He also served as Chairman of the Benevolent Society of Greater Cape Girardeau and Chairman of the Missouri Associated Press.
Rust is preceded in death by his parents; infant son and daughter, both named Robin; son Rex Dearmont Rust; brother Harry Rust and sisters-in-law Sally Kurka and Kim Kurka McDowell. He is survived by his wife of 69 years, Wendy Kurka Rust, and his children, Penny Rochelle Rust Terry, Gary Wayne Rust II, Holly Rust Payne, Wynn Bradford Rust, Jon Kurka Rust and their families. Rust is also survived by his brother Jim (Beverly) Rust, daughter-inlaw Sherry Johnson Rust, sisters-in-law Joy Kurka Gilbert and Barbara Rose Rust and brother-in-law Terry McDowell
There will be no visitation or public funeral. In lieu of gifts or flowers, the family encourages donations to the Community Journalism and Civic Engagement Fund, which supports journalists and journalism in Southeast Missouri, at www.JournalismSupport.com. Memorial messages are welcomed. Condolences may be mailed to Rust Family, 250 Birdsong Lane, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701.
Want to see something funny? Just watch me trying to hit a golf ball out of a sand trap. You’ve never before seen such an ugly, unathletic, uncoordinated golf swing. The Scottish pioneers of the game would be horrified.
The biggest of many problems is with my follow-through. Somehow, sand creates a faulty connection between my brain and the club, which results in stopping the swing right as I make contact. How else can you explain the fact that the ball often hits the lip of the trap and rolls right back to where it started? Sometimes I can make my second attempt without changing my position.
One time, one of the guys in my foursome ate a sandwich while I was trying to get out of a trap. That’s only a slight exaggeration. He actually finished the sandwich while I was putting.
I mention my golf misadventures, because following through is just as important in selling. In fact, following through can make the difference between a completed sale and one that is hanging on the edge.
Guest Column: Ad-Libs: Following through is the right thing to do
By John Foust Greensboro, North Carolina
Following through is not the same as following up. Following up can refer to staying in touch after an appointment or conversation, or the start of a new ad campaign. Following up gives both the salesperson and the advertiser a chance to tweak the advertising. Following up can happen any time, right now or months into the future.
Following through refers to things that can help the prospect finalize a buying decision or be happy with the decision they just made. For example, the creative director at an ad agency once told me about selling a print advertising campaign to a local development company. The two owners of the company loved the ideas and called staff members into the board room to ooh and ahh over the proposed layouts. But over the weekend, one of the owners took the layouts home to show to his family. He put the boards next to the family’s main television, where everyone in the house would see them each day. You can guess what happened: someone at home didn’t like the ideas. On Monday, he said he was having second thoughts and suggested that they needed a different kind of
campaign. His logical business brain had said “yes,” but his emotional family brain said “no.”
That business owner was dealing with a form of buyers’ remorse – in which a buyer regrets a purchase shortly after paying for it or agreeing to buy it. It’s happened to me, and it’s probably happened to you (a pair of poor-fitting loafers comes to mind). Many times, it suggests that the buyer didn’t have enough supporting facts before buying. That’s why it’s crucial for salespeople to follow through.
A golf shot isn’t complete after the club makes that initial contact. And a sale isn’t final after the prospect first agrees to buy. That just means the salesperson needs to follow through with reassuring and confirming information to fight off buyers’ remorse.
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
