Clyde E. Palmer
Encyclopedia
Clyde Eber Palmer was the owner of a chain of newspapers and radio
stations and a television
outlet covering southwestern Arkansas
and part of northeastern Texas
during the early to middle 20th century. He operated his media conglomerate from Texarkana
, Texas
.
, the seat of Dickinson County
in northwestern Iowa
near the Minnesota
border. He began his journalism
career in 1894, at the age of eighteen, as a stenographer at the then Texarkana Gazette and News.
In 1909, Palmer and his second wife, Bettie (1889-1974), were on their honeymoon
and traveling by railway from Fort Worth
to Florida
. They stopped in Texarkana and decided to stay a few days in Palmer's former city of residence. Before they resumed their trip, Palmer purchased for $900 the Texarkana Courier, one of several newspapers then in existence in the Texas-Arkansas border city.
, his personal favorite of all the newspapers that he would own or co-own. An ambitious businessman, Palmer thereafter acquired the El Dorado
News and Times, the Hot Springs
New Era and Sentinel Record, and The Camden News
in Camden
in Ouachita County. He became co-publisher of the Hope
Star in Hempstead County, and the Magnolia
Banner-News in Columbia County
. Palmer also had an interest in newspapers in Stephens
in southern Ouachita County, Stuttgart
in Arkansas County
, and Russellville
in Pope County.
In 1912, Palmer renamed the Courier as the Four States Press, a reference to the general circulation areas of Arkansas, Louisiana
, Texas
, and Oklahoma
. In 1933, the same year that he ventured into radio, Palmer finally managed the purchase of the Texarkana Gazette, which was founded in 1875, a year before his own birth. The Gazette is a morning newspaper. The former Texarkana Daily News was the Gazettes companion afternoon daily until it ceased publication in 1978.
A number afternoon newspapers ceased in the latter twentieth century, including publications in Tulsa
, Shreveport
, Baton Rouge
, New Orleans, San Antonio
, Fort Worth, and even Dallas
, as readers demonstrated an increasing preference for a morning paper.
Palmer's Texarkana Gazette still circulates in Bowie
, Red River, Morris
, Marion
, Titus
, and Cass
counties in Texas and Miller, Little River
, Hempstead, Nevada, Howard
, Sevier, Pike
and Columbia counties in Arkansas. Newspapers are also delivered into McCurtain County, Oklahoma
, and northern Caddo Parish in Louisiana.
The Texarkana Gazette has more than 130 employees and some 120 independent carriers that deliver newspapers in a 60-mile radius
. The average circulation is about 34,000 daily.
Palmer determined that the key to newspaper success was (1) the readers, (2) the advertisers, (3) the employees, (4) the creditors, and (5) the stockholders, in that order.
s:
1. The teletypesetter circuit.
2. Facsimile transmissions by microwave
.
3. Cold type composition, rather than hot metal.
4. Offset lithography
printing.
5. Spot color on a news photograph. This was first used in 1946 by the Texarkana Daily News, which depicted a red flashlight found at the scene of a murder.
6. High speed telegraph service (1930).
7. First automatic teletypesetter circuits to connect a group of newspapers (1942). In the midst of World War II
, when there was a shortage of skilled newspaper employees, the "Palmer Circuit" enabled his six newspapers to pool news items without having to hire additional staff. This idea was thereafter copied by other chains and press associations.
Palmer was one of the first Arkansas companies to provide (1) group major medical benefits for its employees and one of the first newspaper chains in the American South to provide (2) a profit-sharing plan for employee retirement to supplement Social Security
.
Over the years, his interest extended to television. In 1953, he launched a CBS
affiliate in Texarkana called KCMC-TV. At the time there were no stations in Shreveport, some seventy miles to the south. In 1954, another CBS station, KSLA-TV
(for Shreveport, LA), opened in Shreveport. In 1961, four years after Palmer's death, KCMC switched from CBS to NBC
), and the call letters were changed to KTAL-TV
(for Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana). The previous NBC station in Shreveport, KTBS-TV
, joined ABC
. Therefore, both cities for the first time had access to the three major networks. This was in the period before independent stations and widespread cable operations began to emerge. A new tower was built for KTAL in Vivian
in northern Caddo Parish. At that time it was the second-tallest television tower in the South and provided a clear signal in both markets.
in Columbia
, where she met Walter E. Hussman, Sr.
(1906-1988), in the School of Journalism. The couple married in 1931. They had two daughters and a son. Hussman first sold insurance
until he went to work for his father-in-law in the newspaper business.
Hussman entered the military during the war. On his return, he sought to purchase the Midland Reporter-Telegram
in Midland
in west Texas. Palmer instead offered to sell The Camden News to his son-in-law.
On Palmer's death, wife Bettie Palmer and daughter Betty Hussman inherited most of the stock in the company. Through a reorganization in 1968, the Camden News technically became the parent company of Palmer operations. Hussman became head of the firm that published the then two Texarkana newspapers as well as the other Palmer holdings.
In 1981, after a career that spanned more than fifty years, the senior Hussman retired. His son, Walter E. Hussman, Jr.
(born 1947), joined the company in 1970 and was named president in 1981. Hussman, Jr., publishes the Palmer flagship newspaper, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
, popularly referred to as the Democrat, in Little Rock, acquired in 1974. The Texarkana Gazette remains a subsidiary of WEHCO Media, an acronym of "Walter E. Hussman Company", which still publishes the other daily newspapers in Little Rock, Hot Springs, El Dorado, Camden, and Magnolia.
Palmer established the philanthropic Palmer Foundation in 1944. He was a member of the Masonic
Texarkana Border Lodge.
Clyde and Bettie Palmer are interred at Texarkana. Palmer died on a July 4; his son-in-law, Walter Hussman, Sr., was buried on a July 4 thirty-one years after Palmer's passing.
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
stations and a television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
outlet covering southwestern 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...
and part of northeastern 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...
during the early to middle 20th century. He operated his media conglomerate from Texarkana
Texarkana, Texas
Texarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States. It effectively functions as one half of a city which crosses a state line — the other half, the city of Texarkana, Arkansas, lies on the other side of State Line Avenue...
, 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...
.
Early years
Palmer was born to Mr. and Mrs. Eber Palmer in Spirit LakeSpirit Lake, Iowa
Spirit Lake is a city in Dickinson County, Iowa, United States. The population was 4,261 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Dickinson County.The town is located along the western shore of East Okoboji Lake, in the Iowa Great Lakes region....
, the seat of Dickinson County
Dickinson County, Iowa
-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 16,667 in the county, with a population density of . There were 12,849 housing units, of which 7,554 were occupied.-2000 census:...
in northwestern Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
near the Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
border. He began his journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
career in 1894, at the age of eighteen, as a stenographer at the then Texarkana Gazette and News.
In 1909, Palmer and his second wife, Bettie (1889-1974), were on their honeymoon
Honeymoon
-History:One early reference to a honeymoon is in Deuteronomy 24:5 “When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him...
and traveling by railway from Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. They stopped in Texarkana and decided to stay a few days in Palmer's former city of residence. Before they resumed their trip, Palmer purchased for $900 the Texarkana Courier, one of several newspapers then in existence in the Texas-Arkansas border city.
Building a newspaper chain
Over the years, Palmer consolidated the rival papers into the Texarkana GazetteTexarkana Gazette
The Texarkana Gazette is a daily newspaper founded in 1875 and currently owned by WEHCO Media, Inc. It serves Texarkana and surrounding areas....
, his personal favorite of all the newspapers that he would own or co-own. An ambitious businessman, Palmer thereafter acquired the El Dorado
El Dorado, Arkansas
El Dorado , a multi-cultural arts center: South Arkansas Arts Center , an award-winning renovated downtown, and numerous sporting, shopping, and dining opportunities. El Dorado is the population, cultural, and business center of the 7,300 mi² regional area...
News and Times, the Hot Springs
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Hot Springs is the 10th most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Garland County, and the principal city of the Hot Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area encompassing all of Garland County...
New Era and Sentinel Record, and The Camden News
The Camden News
The Camden News is a daily newspaper in Camden, Arkansas, which covers local news, sports, society, and business. It has a weekday circulation of 4,368.-Background:...
in Camden
Camden, Arkansas
Camden is a city in and the county seat of Ouachita County in the southern part of the U.S. state of Arkansas. Long an area of American Indians villages, the French also made a permanent settlement here because of its advantageous location above the Ouachita River. According to 2007 Census...
in Ouachita County. He became co-publisher of the Hope
Hope, Arkansas
Hope is a small city in Hempstead County, Arkansas, United States. According to 2008 United States Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 10,378...
Star in Hempstead County, and the Magnolia
Magnolia, Arkansas
Magnolia is a city in Columbia County, Arkansas, United States, that was founded in 1853. At the time of its incorporation in 1858, the city had a population of about 1,950. The city grew slowly as an agricultural and regional cotton market until the discovery of oil just east of the city in March,...
Banner-News in Columbia County
Columbia County, Arkansas
Columbia County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of 2010, the population was 24,552. The county seat is Magnolia. Columbia County was formed on December 17, 1852, and was named for Christopher Columbus...
. Palmer also had an interest in newspapers in Stephens
Stephens, Arkansas
Stephens is a city in Ouachita County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 1,152 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Camden Micropolitan Statistical Area...
in southern Ouachita County, Stuttgart
Stuttgart, Arkansas
Stuttgart is a city in and the county seat of the northern district of Arkansas County, Arkansas, United States. It is located on U.S. Route 79 about miles southeast of Little Rock. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 9,376.The town proclaims itself the "Rice...
in Arkansas County
Arkansas County, Arkansas
Arkansas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 19,019. The county has two county seats, De Witt and Stuttgart...
, and Russellville
Russellville, Arkansas
Russellville is the county seat and largest city in Pope County, Arkansas, United States, with a population of 27,920, according to the 2010 Census. It is home to Arkansas Tech University and Arkansas Nuclear One, Arkansas' only nuclear power plant...
in Pope County.
In 1912, Palmer renamed the Courier as the Four States Press, a reference to the general circulation areas of Arkansas, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, 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...
, and Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. In 1933, the same year that he ventured into radio, Palmer finally managed the purchase of the Texarkana Gazette, which was founded in 1875, a year before his own birth. The Gazette is a morning newspaper. The former Texarkana Daily News was the Gazettes companion afternoon daily until it ceased publication in 1978.
A number afternoon newspapers ceased in the latter twentieth century, including publications in Tulsa
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
, Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
, Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
, New Orleans, San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
, Fort Worth, and even Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, as readers demonstrated an increasing preference for a morning paper.
Palmer's Texarkana Gazette still circulates in Bowie
Bowie County, Texas
Bowie County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the Texarkana, Texas - Texarkana, Arkansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2000, the population was 89,306. Its legal county seat is Boston, though its courthouse is located in New Boston...
, Red River, Morris
Morris County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 13,048 people, 5,215 households, and 3,749 families residing in the county. The population density was 51 people per square mile . There were 6,017 housing units at an average density of 24 per square mile...
, Marion
Marion County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 10,941 people, 4,610 households, and 3,120 families residing in the county. The population density was 29 people per square mile . There were 6,384 housing units at an average density of 17 per square mile...
, Titus
Titus County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 28,118 people, 9,552 households, and 7,154 families residing in the county. The population density was 68 people per square mile . There were 10,675 housing units at an average density of 26 per square mile...
, and Cass
Cass County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 30,438 people, 12,190 households, and 8,654 families residing in the county. The population density was 32 people per square mile . There were 13,890 housing units at an average density of 15 per square mile...
counties in Texas and Miller, Little River
Little River County, Arkansas
Little River County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of 2010, the population was 13,171. The county seat is Ashdown. Little River County is Arkansas's 59th county, formed from Sevier County on March 5, 1867, and named for the Little River...
, Hempstead, Nevada, Howard
Howard County, Arkansas
Howard County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of 2010, the population was 13,789. The county seat is Nashville. Howard County is Arkansas's 74th county, formed on April 17, 1873, and named for James Howard, a state senator...
, Sevier, Pike
Pike County, Arkansas
Pike County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of 2010, the population was 11,291. The county seat is Murfreesboro. Pike County is Arkansas's 25th county, formed on November 1, 1833, and named for Lieutenant Zebulon Pike, the explorer who discovered Pikes Peak...
and Columbia counties in Arkansas. Newspapers are also delivered into McCurtain County, Oklahoma
McCurtain County, Oklahoma
McCurtain County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2010, the population was 33,151. Its county seat is Idabel.-Geography:...
, and northern Caddo Parish in Louisiana.
The Texarkana Gazette has more than 130 employees and some 120 independent carriers that deliver newspapers in a 60-mile radius
Radius
In classical geometry, a radius of a circle or sphere is any line segment from its center to its perimeter. By extension, the radius of a circle or sphere is the length of any such segment, which is half the diameter. If the object does not have an obvious center, the term may refer to its...
. The average circulation is about 34,000 daily.
Palmer determined that the key to newspaper success was (1) the readers, (2) the advertisers, (3) the employees, (4) the creditors, and (5) the stockholders, in that order.
Palmer technological innovations
Palmer Newspapers led in technological innovations over the decadeDecade
A decade is a period of 10 years. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek dekas which means ten. This etymology is sometime confused with the Latin decas and dies , which is not correct....
s:
1. The teletypesetter circuit.
2. Facsimile transmissions by microwave
Microwave
Microwaves, a subset of radio waves, have wavelengths ranging from as long as one meter to as short as one millimeter, or equivalently, with frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz. This broad definition includes both UHF and EHF , and various sources use different boundaries...
.
3. Cold type composition, rather than hot metal.
4. Offset lithography
Lithography
Lithography is a method for printing using a stone or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface...
printing.
5. Spot color on a news photograph. This was first used in 1946 by the Texarkana Daily News, which depicted a red flashlight found at the scene of a murder.
6. High speed telegraph service (1930).
7. First automatic teletypesetter circuits to connect a group of newspapers (1942). In the midst of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when there was a shortage of skilled newspaper employees, the "Palmer Circuit" enabled his six newspapers to pool news items without having to hire additional staff. This idea was thereafter copied by other chains and press associations.
Palmer was one of the first Arkansas companies to provide (1) group major medical benefits for its employees and one of the first newspaper chains in the American South to provide (2) a profit-sharing plan for employee retirement to supplement Social Security
Social Security (United States)
In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs...
.
Radio and television
In 1933, Palmer launched the first of his radio stations in Texarkana. Other outlets followed in Hot Springs and Camden.Over the years, his interest extended to television. In 1953, he launched a CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate in Texarkana called KCMC-TV. At the time there were no stations in Shreveport, some seventy miles to the south. In 1954, another CBS station, KSLA-TV
KSLA-TV
KSLA, virtual channel 12, is the CBS-affiliated television station for Shreveport, Louisiana and the Ark-La-Tex region. Owned by Raycom Media, it broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 17. The sole transmitter is located in Mooringsport, Louisiana...
(for Shreveport, LA), opened in Shreveport. In 1961, four years after Palmer's death, KCMC switched from CBS to NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
), and the call letters were changed to KTAL-TV
KTAL-TV
KTAL-TV, virtual channel 6, is the NBC television affiliate serving the Shreveport, Louisiana/Texarkana, Arkansas-Texas market. It is licensed to the Texas side of Texarkana and is the only station in its market licensed outside of Louisiana. Its main studio is located in Shreveport with a...
(for Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana). The previous NBC station in Shreveport, KTBS-TV
KTBS-TV
KTBS-TV, virtual channel 3, is the ABC-affiliated television station in Shreveport, Louisiana. Its transmitter is located near Mooringsport. The station broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 28 and is owned locally by the Wray family as part of a duopoly with the CW affiliate KPXJ...
, joined ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. Therefore, both cities for the first time had access to the three major networks. This was in the period before independent stations and widespread cable operations began to emerge. A new tower was built for KTAL in Vivian
Vivian, Louisiana
Vivian, is a town in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, United States and is home to the Red Bud Festival. The population was 4,031 at the 2000 census...
in northern Caddo Parish. At that time it was the second-tallest television tower in the South and provided a clear signal in both markets.
The Palmer companies
The Palmers' daughter Betty (1911-1990) attended college at the University of MissouriUniversity of Missouri
The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
in Columbia
Columbia, Missouri
Columbia is the fifth-largest city in Missouri, and the largest city in Mid-Missouri. With a population of 108,500 as of the 2010 Census, it is the principal municipality of the Columbia Metropolitan Area, a region of 164,283 residents. The city serves as the county seat of Boone County and as the...
, where she met Walter E. Hussman, Sr.
Walter E. Hussman, Sr.
Walter Edward Hussman, Sr. , was a mass media magnate from Camden, Arkansas, whose holdings included six daily newspapers in Arkansas, several radio and television stations, including the NBC outlet KTAL-TV in Texarkana, Texas, and seventeen cable systems in four states.-Early years, education,...
(1906-1988), in the School of Journalism. The couple married in 1931. They had two daughters and a son. Hussman first sold insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
until he went to work for his father-in-law in the newspaper business.
Hussman entered the military during the war. On his return, he sought to purchase the Midland Reporter-Telegram
Midland Reporter-Telegram
The Midland Reporter-Telegram is a daily newspaper in Midland, Texas. The offices for the paper are located at 201 E. Illinois Ave., Midland, TX 79701. Midland, Texas is located in the heart of the vast 54-county Permian Basin of West Texas, a geological region producing 70 percent of the oil in...
in Midland
Midland, Texas
Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States, on the Southern Plains of the state's western area. A small portion of the city extends into Martin County. As of 2010, the population of Midland was 111,147. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas...
in west Texas. Palmer instead offered to sell The Camden News to his son-in-law.
On Palmer's death, wife Bettie Palmer and daughter Betty Hussman inherited most of the stock in the company. Through a reorganization in 1968, the Camden News technically became the parent company of Palmer operations. Hussman became head of the firm that published the then two Texarkana newspapers as well as the other Palmer holdings.
In 1981, after a career that spanned more than fifty years, the senior Hussman retired. His son, 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...
(born 1947), joined the company in 1970 and was named president in 1981. Hussman, Jr., publishes the Palmer flagship newspaper, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
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...
, popularly referred to as the Democrat, in Little Rock, acquired in 1974. The Texarkana Gazette remains a subsidiary of WEHCO Media, an acronym of "Walter E. Hussman Company", which still publishes the other daily newspapers in Little Rock, Hot Springs, El Dorado, Camden, and Magnolia.
Palmer established the philanthropic Palmer Foundation in 1944. He was a member of the Masonic
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...
Texarkana Border Lodge.
Clyde and Bettie Palmer are interred at Texarkana. Palmer died on a July 4; his son-in-law, Walter Hussman, Sr., was buried on a July 4 thirty-one years after Palmer's passing.