NWA newspaper merger accelerates as employees apply for their old jobs | Ink By the Byte
Banner, News — By Christopher Spencer on October 19, 2009 at 8:14 PM
The merger of Wehco Media’s and Stephens Media’s newspaper empires in Northwest Arkansas began in earnest recently as employees started interviewing for their old jobs this week.
Staff with The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas, the Northwest Arkansas Times and the Benton County Daily Record were told they must re-apply for their jobs with the soon-to-be-formed Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC company.
Rusty Turner and Lisa Thompson, editors from The Morning News were reportedly making the rounds this week among some Wehco properties to interview folks for the new company.
It appears Stephens Media will control the editorial side of things for the new company, but Wehco will hold the purse strings. Perhaps this is a corporate attempt at finding a balance of power for the new entity. The U.S. Department of Justice still hasn’t formally blessed the marriage, but it is expected very soon.
No word about whether or not the re-interviewing process has begun yet for Morning News employees. Also unknown is if seniority will translate to the new company – presumably it will not since the new company is actually a new company.
On their application, employees must list their top two positions in order of preference, but no one is saying just how many positions are actually going to exist in the new arrangement.
Finally, it’s on good authority that the Arkansas Democrat Gazette’s Lowell office lease ends this month and there’s been little movement to get the lease renewed. This could mean that the Demozette’s Northwest Arkansas newsroom is going to move to another location in the area or perhaps be merged with the MN’s Springdale operation.
Batton down the hatches. It’s happening.
SIMILAR POSTS
- Wehco and Stephens marry as Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC. is formed Friday | Ink By the Byte at 12:24 PM on October 24, 2009
- NWA newspaper merger becomes “officially” official as papers drop simultaneous press releases | Ink By the Byte at 6:30 PM on October 26, 2009
- ‘Maybe a lapse of judgment’: Arkansas Week’s Steve Barnes on omission of NWA newspaper merger | Ink By the Byte at 8:34 PM on November 9, 2009
- Is The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas still for sale? at 5:27 PM on October 5, 2009
- Morning News falls through the cracks | CF at 8:30 AM on March 8, 2010
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8 Comments
What about Masterson? Staying to continue dishing tripe of going to pasture? What say you NWA guru?
Err, I meant “or going to pasture?”
*chuckles* I think Robert Smith over at the NWA Demozette has the lock on the NWA Guru title.
But, if I were to engage in pure and idle speculation (which I’m happy to do as long as we call it that) then I would say Masterson is safe, as are the majority of editors. The real cuts will be among the content creators, the reporters, and redundancies in press production.
The editorializin’ business up here has not been the same since George Arnold, my first editor back in El Dorado, was forced out.
George was one the best. Had a good grip on reality which means you don’t fly well with the nutbirds at ADG Op-Ed.
What about the bankrupt Gitz?
You know, I’ve not read Brad Gitz, but a Google search turned up that he’s quite a polarizing figure in the Paid Opinion Game.
The only columnist who really gets under my skin is John Terry of Siloam Springs who writes an every other Saturday column for the Northwest Arkansas Times. Twice, I’ve left comments after his column taking issue or trying to refute a point, politely and with my name attached.
My hope is always he will actually respond to what he writes, engaging the audience. That’s really what the Internet is about and twice I’ve been let down on that front.
That “talk at” mentality is rife in print journalism.
Here’s his latest pearl of wisdom, though it’s locked behind the paywall, so you can’t dig beyond the first graph without a subscription.