Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Encyclopedia
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is the newspaper of record
in the U.S. state of Arkansas
, printed in Little Rock
with a northwest edition published in Lowell
. It is distributed for sale in all 75 of Arkansas' counties.
By virtue of one of its predecessors, the Arkansas Gazette (founded in 1819), it claims to be the oldest continuously published newspaper west of the Mississippi River
. The original print shop of the Gazette is preserved at the Historic Arkansas Museum
in Little Rock.
. William E. Woodruff
arrived at the territorial capital at Arkansas Post
in late 1819 on a dugout canoe with a second-hand wooden press. He cranked out the first edition of the Arkansas Gazette on 20 November 1819. Early in its history the Gazette scrupulously avoided political involvement or endorsement.
In 1821 the territorial capital was moved to Little Rock, and Woodruff moved his Gazette along with it. The Gazette led the campaign for Arkansas statehood which was accomplished in 1836 and constantly promoted new immigration to the state.
The Gazette supported Texas
independence and called for volunteers from Arkansas to assist the Texans and supported the Mexican-American War. In the 1840s Woodruff lost control of the paper and established a competing paper, the Arkansas Democrat (not related to the later Democrat).
In 1850, after the Gazette had briefly failed under its new owners, Woodruff regained control and combined it with his Democrat as the Arkansas State Gazette and Democrat. Later in the 1850s, under another owner, the name was shortened to the Arkansas State Gazette.
years facing financial problems and shortages of supplies. The Gazette had initially been pro-Union but altered its position after Lincoln's
call for troops, much like Arkansas as a whole.
In 1863 Little Rock fell to Union troops and the Gazette suspended publication until May 1865 while Federal authorities used the presses for their own publications.
The Gazette and the Democrat engaged in a war of words that soon escalated into an exchange of gunfire between the owner of the Democrat and a part-owner of the Gazette.
Over the years the Gazette and the Democrat supported opposing candidates and took opposite editorial positions. Throughout the simmering battle the Gazette continued to be the dominant state newspaper. The Gazette was owned and edited by John Netherland Heiskell
who guided it with a firm hand through most of the twentieth century.
In 1926, August Engel acquired a major interest in the Democrat. He became the newspaper's president and general manager, leading it through a period of great growth over the next 43 years. Engel gained a reputation as a hard-working, shrewd businessman who took an active part in the editorial process.
when he tried to prevent the Little Rock Nine
from integrating Little Rock Central High School in 1957. In 1958 the Gazette was awarded the Pulitzer Prize
for Public Service for its stand, and executive editor Harry Ashmore
won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing. Despite its honors the circulation of the Gazette dropped during the crisis due to boycotts, which ended when Ashmore left the paper.
The Democrat charted a generally neutral editorial stand. Its photographer Will Counts took several important pictures of the crisis, including a famous picture of Elizabeth Eckford
, one of the Nine, being shouted at by an angry white girl, later identified as Hazel Massery
; the Associated Press
declared it to be one of the top 100 photos of the 20th century. Counts also helped arrange the public reconciliation of Eckford and Massery in 1997.
Counts' work submitted by the Arkansas Democrat for the 1958 Pulitzer Prize, received the unanimous recommendation of the Pulitzer jurors for Best Spot News Photography. However, Counts was denied the award when the Pulitzer board overruled its jurors and gave the award to another entrant.
In more recent times, the current Democrat-Gazette editorial cartoonist, John Deering, and his wife Cathy created a bronze sculpture of the Nine, entitled Testament, on the grounds of the Arkansas State Capitol
.
, 27, became the publisher. At the time of Hussman's arrival the morning Gazette was far in front of the afternoon Democrat, with daily circulation 118,702 to the Democrat's 62,405. Hussman embarked on a campaign of major cost reductions and concentrating subscription effort on the Little Rock urban market. These efforts had little success. By 1977 Hussman attempted to reach an agreement with the Gazette to combine operations but his overtures were rejected.
Hussman vigorously fought back and was intent on making the Democrat the state's largest newspaper. A war ensued between the two papers. The Democrat expanded its news operation, offered free classified advertisements, and switched from afternoon publication to morning publication.
In 1979 Hussman appointed John Robert Starr
to the position of managing editor. The fiery and irascible Starr was photographed squatting atop a Gazette newspaper box with a dagger between his teeth to show his seriousness. Starr doubled the size of the news staff and concentrated on hard news. Under Starr's direction readership increased steadily. During 1980 the Democrat was the fastest growing newspaper in the United States.
The Gazette responded by hiring new staff, going to a color format, and filing a federal antitrust suit against the Democrat in 1984. The suit accused the Hussman enterprises of predatory practices and trying to harm the Gazette. The Democrat responded that it was only trying to gain market share to be more competitive with the larger and more dominant Arkansas Gazette.
A federal jury in the court of U.S. District Judge William R. Overton rendered its verdict on March 26, 1986. The Democrat was found not guilty of all the allegations leveled against it by the Gazette.
The Heiskell family sold the Arkansas Gazette to Gannett, the nation's largest newspaper chain, on Dec. 1, 1986.
Gannett had immense assets with which to fight the Democrat but received criticism for bringing in out-of-town reporters and staff and losing the local feel of the paper. The Gazette, nicknamed the "Old Lady", became flashier but critics complained that the paper had lost the respect of the readership.
Over the next five years the two newspapers dueled. The circulation of the Gazette remained steady over that period of time, but the daily circulation of the Democrat went from 81,000 to 131,000 and the Sunday circulation leapt ahead of the Gazettes 218,000 to achieve 230,000.
Many of the reporters and staff of the more liberal Gazette were thrown out of work and not picked up by the more conservative Democrat-Gazette. Many of these former employees were bitter at Gannett for their management of the newspaper war and angry at the Democrat for achieving victory. Many employees left for other markets while some who remained aided in converting the Arkansas Times
from a magazine format to a tabloid newspaper in order to provide a more liberal weekly alternative to the dominant conservative paper.
In the years since, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has maintained a higher circulation than newspapers in similarly sized cities. Many newspapers that defeated in-town rivals concentrated on reducing costs and reduced news coverage to meet their goals. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has continued to balance quality goals with profitability. Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Greenberg
was appointed the Democrat-Gazette editorial page editor on April 29, 1992. Griffin Smith, a sixth-generation Arkansan, was appointed Executive Editor on June 23, 1992. Both continue to serve in those positions.
than its Little Rock subscriber base. The Democrat-Gazette says that its op-ed pages are open to many different viewpoints and that it accurately reflects its statewide constituency.
Newspaper of record
Newspaper of record is a term that may refer either to any publicly available newspaper that has been authorized by a government to publish public or legal notices , or any major newspaper that has a large circulation and whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered professional and...
in the U.S. state of Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, printed in Little Rock
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
with a northwest edition published in Lowell
Lowell, Arkansas
Lowell is a city in Benton County, Arkansas, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 7,327. It is part of the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers, AR-MO Metropolitan Statistical Area....
. It is distributed for sale in all 75 of Arkansas' counties.
By virtue of one of its predecessors, the Arkansas Gazette (founded in 1819), it claims to be the oldest continuously published newspaper west of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
. The original print shop of the Gazette is preserved at the Historic Arkansas Museum
Historic Arkansas Museum
The Historic Arkansas Museum, sometimes called the HAM, is a state history museum in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas.The museum maintains gallery space and a number of historic buildings original to the site, as well as log structures transported from around the state...
in Little Rock.
Early years
The history of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette goes back to the earliest days of territorial ArkansasArkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
. William E. Woodruff
William E. Woodruff
William Woodruff is a historian.William Woodruff is also the name of:*William E. Woodruff , early American journalist, politician, and pioneer of Arkansas*William E...
arrived at the territorial capital at Arkansas Post
Arkansas Post, Arkansas
Arkansas Post, Arkansas is an unincorporated community in Arkansas County, Arkansas, United States. The community is located at the end of Arkansas Highway 169.....
in late 1819 on a dugout canoe with a second-hand wooden press. He cranked out the first edition of the Arkansas Gazette on 20 November 1819. Early in its history the Gazette scrupulously avoided political involvement or endorsement.
In 1821 the territorial capital was moved to Little Rock, and Woodruff moved his Gazette along with it. The Gazette led the campaign for Arkansas statehood which was accomplished in 1836 and constantly promoted new immigration to the state.
The Gazette supported Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
independence and called for volunteers from Arkansas to assist the Texans and supported the Mexican-American War. In the 1840s Woodruff lost control of the paper and established a competing paper, the Arkansas Democrat (not related to the later Democrat).
In 1850, after the Gazette had briefly failed under its new owners, Woodruff regained control and combined it with his Democrat as the Arkansas State Gazette and Democrat. Later in the 1850s, under another owner, the name was shortened to the Arkansas State Gazette.
Civil War era
The Gazette struggled through the early Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
years facing financial problems and shortages of supplies. The Gazette had initially been pro-Union but altered its position after Lincoln's
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
call for troops, much like Arkansas as a whole.
In 1863 Little Rock fell to Union troops and the Gazette suspended publication until May 1865 while Federal authorities used the presses for their own publications.
Competition after the Civil War
During the Reconstruction years a competitor arose called by a variety of names, under a variety of editors, and with several different owners. In 1878 J.N. Smithee bought the newspaper, changed its name to the Arkansas Democrat, and went after lucrative state printing contracts held by the Gazette.The Gazette and the Democrat engaged in a war of words that soon escalated into an exchange of gunfire between the owner of the Democrat and a part-owner of the Gazette.
Over the years the Gazette and the Democrat supported opposing candidates and took opposite editorial positions. Throughout the simmering battle the Gazette continued to be the dominant state newspaper. The Gazette was owned and edited by John Netherland Heiskell
John Netherland Heiskell
John Netherland Heiskell was the second U.S. Senator to reach the age of 100. He served as Senator from Arkansas for a period of just 23 days, from January 6 to January 29, 1913...
who guided it with a firm hand through most of the twentieth century.
In 1926, August Engel acquired a major interest in the Democrat. He became the newspaper's president and general manager, leading it through a period of great growth over the next 43 years. Engel gained a reputation as a hard-working, shrewd businessman who took an active part in the editorial process.
Central High crisis
The Gazette took a strong editorial stance against Governor Orval FaubusOrval Faubus
Orval Eugene Faubus was the 36th Governor of Arkansas, serving from 1955 to 1967. He is best known for his 1957 stand against the desegregation of Little Rock public schools during the Little Rock Crisis, in which he defied a unanimous decision of the United States Supreme Court by ordering the...
when he tried to prevent the Little Rock Nine
Little Rock Nine
The Little Rock Nine was a group of African-American students who were enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. The ensuing Little Rock Crisis, in which the students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus, and then...
from integrating Little Rock Central High School in 1957. In 1958 the Gazette was awarded the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
for Public Service for its stand, and executive editor Harry Ashmore
Harry Ashmore
Harry Scott Ashmore was an American journalist who won a Pulitzer Prize for his editorials in 1957 on the school integration conflict in Little Rock, Arkansas....
won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing. Despite its honors the circulation of the Gazette dropped during the crisis due to boycotts, which ended when Ashmore left the paper.
The Democrat charted a generally neutral editorial stand. Its photographer Will Counts took several important pictures of the crisis, including a famous picture of Elizabeth Eckford
Elizabeth Eckford
Elizabeth Eckford was one of the Little Rock Nine, a group of African-American students who, in 1957, were the first black students ever to attend classes at Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The integration came as a result of Brown v...
, one of the Nine, being shouted at by an angry white girl, later identified as Hazel Massery
Hazel Massery
Hazel Massery was a student at Little Rock Central High School during the 1950s. She was depicted in an iconic photograph that showed her shouting at Elizabeth Eckford, one of the Little Rock Nine, during the integration crisis...
; the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
declared it to be one of the top 100 photos of the 20th century. Counts also helped arrange the public reconciliation of Eckford and Massery in 1997.
Counts' work submitted by the Arkansas Democrat for the 1958 Pulitzer Prize, received the unanimous recommendation of the Pulitzer jurors for Best Spot News Photography. However, Counts was denied the award when the Pulitzer board overruled its jurors and gave the award to another entrant.
In more recent times, the current Democrat-Gazette editorial cartoonist, John Deering, and his wife Cathy created a bronze sculpture of the Nine, entitled Testament, on the grounds of the Arkansas State Capitol
Arkansas State Capitol
The Arkansas State Capitol Building, located in Little Rock, is the main house of government of the state of Arkansas.-History:In 1899, the St. Louis architect George R. Mann visited the governor of Arkansas Daniel W. Jones, and presented his drawings of his winning competition design for the...
.
The newspaper war
In 1974 the Democrat was sold to WEHCO Media Inc., owned by the Hussman family. Walter E. Hussman, Jr.Walter E. Hussman, Jr.
Walter E. Hussman, Jr. , is a third-generation newspaper publisher and chief executive officer of a mass media conglomerate known as WEHCO Media, Inc...
, 27, became the publisher. At the time of Hussman's arrival the morning Gazette was far in front of the afternoon Democrat, with daily circulation 118,702 to the Democrat's 62,405. Hussman embarked on a campaign of major cost reductions and concentrating subscription effort on the Little Rock urban market. These efforts had little success. By 1977 Hussman attempted to reach an agreement with the Gazette to combine operations but his overtures were rejected.
Hussman vigorously fought back and was intent on making the Democrat the state's largest newspaper. A war ensued between the two papers. The Democrat expanded its news operation, offered free classified advertisements, and switched from afternoon publication to morning publication.
In 1979 Hussman appointed John Robert Starr
John Robert Starr
John Robert Starr was an American journalist and newspaper columnist. Starr was noted for his role in the demise of the Arkansas Gazette during the 1980s and his criticism of President Bill Clinton including popularizing the term "Slick Willie".John Robert Starr wrote sports for the Memphis...
to the position of managing editor. The fiery and irascible Starr was photographed squatting atop a Gazette newspaper box with a dagger between his teeth to show his seriousness. Starr doubled the size of the news staff and concentrated on hard news. Under Starr's direction readership increased steadily. During 1980 the Democrat was the fastest growing newspaper in the United States.
The Gazette responded by hiring new staff, going to a color format, and filing a federal antitrust suit against the Democrat in 1984. The suit accused the Hussman enterprises of predatory practices and trying to harm the Gazette. The Democrat responded that it was only trying to gain market share to be more competitive with the larger and more dominant Arkansas Gazette.
A federal jury in the court of U.S. District Judge William R. Overton rendered its verdict on March 26, 1986. The Democrat was found not guilty of all the allegations leveled against it by the Gazette.
The Heiskell family sold the Arkansas Gazette to Gannett, the nation's largest newspaper chain, on Dec. 1, 1986.
Gannett had immense assets with which to fight the Democrat but received criticism for bringing in out-of-town reporters and staff and losing the local feel of the paper. The Gazette, nicknamed the "Old Lady", became flashier but critics complained that the paper had lost the respect of the readership.
Over the next five years the two newspapers dueled. The circulation of the Gazette remained steady over that period of time, but the daily circulation of the Democrat went from 81,000 to 131,000 and the Sunday circulation leapt ahead of the Gazettes 218,000 to achieve 230,000.
Victory of the Democrat
The financial losses of the fiercely contested battle were too much for Gannett to justify. The "Old Lady" published her last edition on 18 October 1991. Gannett sold the Gazette and all of its assets to the Democrat and the next morning, 19 October, the first edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette was published. Most Arkansans, regardless of which paper they subscribed to, were saddened by the sudden loss of their historic newspaper.Many of the reporters and staff of the more liberal Gazette were thrown out of work and not picked up by the more conservative Democrat-Gazette. Many of these former employees were bitter at Gannett for their management of the newspaper war and angry at the Democrat for achieving victory. Many employees left for other markets while some who remained aided in converting the Arkansas Times
Arkansas Times
Arkansas Times, a weekly alternative newspaper based in Little Rock, Arkansas, is a publication that has circulated for more than 35 years, originally as a magazine. Its current format stems from reaction to the Arkansas Democrat buyout of assets from Gannett's closure of the Arkansas Gazette in...
from a magazine format to a tabloid newspaper in order to provide a more liberal weekly alternative to the dominant conservative paper.
In the years since, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has maintained a higher circulation than newspapers in similarly sized cities. Many newspapers that defeated in-town rivals concentrated on reducing costs and reduced news coverage to meet their goals. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has continued to balance quality goals with profitability. Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Greenberg
Paul Greenberg (journalist)
Paul Greenberg is an American syndicated columnist and author. He curretnly serves as the editorial page editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. His articles appear in various newspapers through Tribune Media Services syndicate. He has won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing in 1969.-...
was appointed the Democrat-Gazette editorial page editor on April 29, 1992. Griffin Smith, a sixth-generation Arkansan, was appointed Executive Editor on June 23, 1992. Both continue to serve in those positions.
Criticism
Critics of the Democrat-Gazette contend that the paper is editorially more conservativeConservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
than its Little Rock subscriber base. The Democrat-Gazette says that its op-ed pages are open to many different viewpoints and that it accurately reflects its statewide constituency.