AAN News

Early Editor of Arkansas Times Diesnew

Bill Terry, one of the founders of the Times and its editor for many years, died yesterday in St. Louis of complications from cancer. He was 78. "In 1974, Terry, who had recently been fired from the Arkansas Democrat, and Times founder Alan Leveritt, who had recently been fired from the Arkansas Gazette, found each other just in time to save the foundering Union Station Times (later renamed Arkansas Times)," the Times reports. "Terry took over as editor and Leveritt became the ad salesman resulting in a great improvement in both editorial quality and ad income."
Arkansas Times  |  06-24-2009  9:25 am  |  Industry News

Arkansas Times Editor Wins Award 'For Valor in Journalism'new

The University of Arkansas has named Max Brantley the recipient of the 2009 Ernie Deane Award. "I am surprised, honored and pleased to learn I've been chosen to receive the Ernie Deane award," Brantley says. "I realized when (Larry Foley, a professor of journalism and Ernie Deane committee member) called and gave me the news I may not have sounded very gracious. My first thought was surely there was someone better." He will receive the award at a ceremony this fall.
Arkansas Times  |  04-29-2009  8:41 am  |  Honors & Achievements

Arkansas Times Institutes Temporary Pay Cuts for Some Staffnew

Publisher Alan Leveritt said yesterday that about a third of the 41 people who work at the Times and the company's other publications will see temporary pay reductions of 4-7 percent starting next month. Lower paid employees were exempt from the cuts. The paper says it also recently laid off a receptionist and converted a full-time job on El Latino, its Spanish language weekly, to part-time.
Arkansas Times  |  04-01-2009  8:25 am  |  Industry News

Arkansas Times Publishes Concealed Weapons Data, Causes Backlashnew

The alt-weekly recently published on its blog a state database containing the names and addresses of Arkansans who hold permits to carry concealed handguns, but after an uproar from gun lobby and death threats made against Times editor Max Brantley and his family, the paper took the database down. Not long after, the state House of Representatives introduced and passed by a 98-1 vote a bill that would prohibit revealing "the identities or other information concerning concealed handgun licensees." Sponsors of the bill argued that doing so put handgun owners at risk.
Arkansas Times  |  03-12-2009  11:49 am  |  Industry News

How I Got That Story: David Koon

In the fourth installment of this year's "How I Got That Story" series, Arkansas Times associate editor David Koon talks to Corina Knoll about his feature profile of writer Mohja Kahf, a novelist, poet and sex columnist working to change public perception of Muslim women. Koon talks about finding the story, trying to paint a true picture of a sympathetic source, and how his creative writing background informs his work. "A lot of the things I know -- how to create character, how to create mood and theme -- translate straight across to features," he says. "I think a lot of people who gravitate toward alternative journalism and do it well come from a creative-writing background." (FULL STORY)
AAN News  |  09-30-2008  12:15 pm  |  Association News

Federal Judge Dismisses Arkansas Times Lawsuit on Executionsnew

The First Amendment provides no guarantee that witnesses should be able to see every step of an execution in Arkansas, a federal judge ruled as she dismissed a lawsuit by the Arkansas Times and local chapters of the ACLU and the Society for Professional Journalists, the AP reports. The suit sought to allow journalists to witness the prisoner as (s)he is led to the execution chamber, strapped down, and inserted with IVs. In her ruling, the judge wrote that executions have "moved from the public square to inside prison walls," an area where the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled reporters have no special right to access. "Even if constitutionally we don't have a right to be there at every step of that process, public accountability demands that we should be," Times editor Max Brantley says, adding that he and the other parties would confer with lawyers before deciding whether to appeal the ruling.
The Associated Press  |  01-09-2008  9:18 am  |  Legal News

Arkansas Times Editor Talks About the Impact of Blogging on the Paper

The Times made the jump to blogging in 2004 at a time when many AAN papers had yet to do so with the simply-named Arkansas Blog. Since then, its website, which started as a niche resource for its print readers, has evolved into a daily must-read for just about everyone in the state, from politicians to daily newspaper editors and, with the additional in-house blogs Rock Candy and Eat Arkansas, music and food junkies. AAN News recently spoke with editor and full-time blogger Max Brantley on what blogging has done for the Times. (FULL STORY)
AAN News  |  11-21-2007  10:57 am  |  Industry News

Arkansas Times Organizes Coaltion to Fight Immigration Measuresnew

Representatives from Alltel, Tyson Foods, and Stephens Inc. have joined the American Civil Liberties Union, activists, and the Times (which also publishes El Latino, a Spanish-language weekly) in a coalition aimed at stopping any state or local legislation targeting illegal immigration, Forbes reports. The members of the Arkansas Friendship Coalition were inspired to act by a few developments: a handful of local police agencies partnering with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to enforce federal immigration law; a failed effort in the state legislature that would have criminalized harboring or transportating illegal immigrants; and Gov. Mike Beebe's request that Arkansas State Police pursue an agreement with the federal government that would allow troopers to enforce immigration law. Times publisher Alan Leveritt helped lay the groundwork for the group's formation with an August cover story on Little Rock's immigrant community.
Forbes  |  10-31-2007  8:28 am  |  Industry News

Arkansas Times & Others File Suit Against Arkansas Prisons Chiefnew

The alt-weekly joins local chapters of the ACLU and the Society for Professional Journalists in suing the director of the Arkansas Department of Corrections for full access to executions, the AP reports. Arkansas only allows media or the public to watch the period of the execution after the inmate is already strapped to the gurney until right after (s)he dies, not as intravenous tubes are inserted and removed from the inmate. "The public has a First Amendment right to view executions from the moment the condemned is escorted into the execution chamber," the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court, reads.
Associated Press via the International Herald Tribune  |  07-26-2007  9:26 am  |  Legal News

Arkansas Times' Associate Editor to Leave for University PR Postnew

Warwick Sabin, the alt-weekly's columnist, reporter and blogger, will leave next month to be associate vice president for communications for the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas Business reports. Sabin, who joined the Times in 2004 after working for the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation and played an important role in creating the Times' popular Arkansas Blog, will earn $92,000 in his new job, according to the Times.
Arkansas Business  |  02-26-2007  1:25 pm  |  Industry News

Arkansas Daily Planning Faux-Altnew

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's free weekly will target young readers by focusing on entertainment and short news items, according to the Arkansas Times. Internal memos provided to the Times reportedly reference the alt-weekly repeatedly, and reveal that "Focus" and "Mo" (as in, "More") are possible names for the new publication. Times Publisher Alan Leveritt accuses the D-G of starting the faux-alt "to eliminate a strong dissenting voice ... and to further monopolize the newspaper advertising market." But Leveritt is prepared to fight. "Over the last 30 some odd years any number of competitors have tried to swallow the Arkansas Times," Leveritt says. "We're about as digestible as hickory nuts."
Arkansas Times  |  02-21-2007  5:15 pm  |  Industry News

Tim Russert Uses Arkansas Times Story to Trip Up Huckabeenew

While he was still the governor of Arkansas, Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee arranged for the release of rapist Wayne Dumond, who murdered a woman in Missouri after getting out of jail. When Huckabee appeared on Meet the Press this weekend, he initially denied talking to the parole board about Dumond, but amended his statement when the host (pictured) responded incredulously. "(Russert) obviously had an Arkansas Times article detailing the meeting that led to Dumond’s release," reports the Arkansas Leader in an editorial urging Huckabee to exercise a little "humility." MORE HUCKABEE DISSEMBLING: The ex-governor lies about a report in the Arkansas Times about missing statehouse furniture.
Arkansas Leader  |  01-31-2007  5:05 pm  |  Industry News

Online Ad Firm Signs Six Alt-Weekly Clientsnew

Mediaspan, which calls itself "the leading provider of digital content management and national advertising solutions for over 4,000 local media properties," yesterday announced the addition of several new clients, including AAN members Philadelphia City Paper, Austin Chronicle, San Antonio Current, Salt Lake City Weekly, Arkansas Times and Jackson Free Press. "Our drive to deliver new, national revenue for our affiliate partners goes hand-in-hand with our goal of meeting the demands of national advertisers who want to reach a specific local audience, in markets large and small, across multiple types of media," says a Mediaspan executive. "Whether advertisers seek online display ads on newspaper websites, pre-roll video on TV websites or online radio audio streams, we can deliver."
Mediaspan Press Release  |  01-31-2007  3:19 pm  |  Industry News

Arkansas Times the Go-To Paper on Huckabeenew

So says Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne, who calls the Little Rock alt-weekly "a progressive paper that will be must-reading if (former Arkansas Gov. Mike) Huckabee runs" for President. The Times also made a splash last week when it added video to its popular Arkansas Blog, premiering with a walk-and-talk interview of new Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe. "The Times' blog's reader/responders have been positively lapping up this video," says The Morning News' John Brummett, "posting their delight that they could see their new governor in real-time action for themselves over an exended period, and thus size him up directly without the filter of the traditional journalist, the middle man."
Real Clear Politics  |  01-17-2007  1:30 am  |  Industry News

Podcast