By Christopher Spencer First off, a note to KNWA reporter Aaron Nolan. When doing damage control for your TV station’s media partner under the auspice of a “news story” be sure you name the magazine correctly. “Hey guys, in the December edition of Celebrity magazine, three Hog...

“Some very talented people at each newsroom were asked to stay and continue their contributions to the news, sports, features and photo coverage we provide. Also, some very talented people at each newsroom learned that there wasn’t enough room in a merged company for every employee.” –...

By Christopher Spencer Ozarks Unbound I don’t often pick on television news stations publicly (there’s little sport in it), but Tuesday night’s lead story on KNWA by reporter Aaron Nolan about public opposition to Bikes, Babes and Bling was remarkably superficial. It resulted in a...

[Disclosure: I'm a previous employee of The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. I was laid off from The Morning News in April 2009] By Christopher Spencer Ozarks Unbound Arkansas Week’s Steve Barnes said today that it wasn’t a conscious decision that the...

Gordon Witkin, managing editor at the Center for Public Integrity, speaks Thursday at "The Fog of New Media" discussion. The discussion was hosted by the University of Arkansas' journalism department. [Disclosure: I originally conceived of this as a straight news story, but soon realized...

By Christopher Spencer Ozarks Unbound (Disclosure: I’ve worked for both the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas. I was laid off from The Morning News in April 2009 along with others.). “Jeff Jeffus will continue … Rusty Turner will continue …...

** UPDATE at 6: p.m., 11/06/09 *** Bob Caudle was hired today by the merged Northwest Arkansas Newspaper as a Benton County’s fire and police reporter. The offer was made after Anna Fry, who covered that area previously, decided to find greener journalism pastures in Washington, D.C., sources...

The evidence was pretty clear Friday, but the wedding between Wehco and Stephens media groups was officially announced by the Northwest Arkansas Times and the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas simultaneously at 6 p.m. today. So what does this mean? For the reader, it means that the Sunday paper is published...

I don’t have independent confirmation from the U.S. Department of Justice, but one has to presume that the formation of Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC on Friday means the media merger between Wehco Media and Stephens Media was given the federal nod to go forward. From the Arkansas Secretary...

“Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel” – newspaper adage Arkansas Democrat-Gazette “Death by rumor: How to kill the competition” COMMENT: The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette spins this story from Editor and Publisher into an editorial. The gist is that the Commercial...