Times Hiring Seven in Newsroom, Gives Raises Across the Board
by June 29, 1998 12:00 am 77 views
In the wake of competition from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the Northwest Arkansas Times of Fayetteville is planning to hire four new reporters and three new editors by mid-July. That’s in addition to three reporters the Times recently hired to replace three that were hired away by the Democrat-Gazette.
“It sort of puts the old rumor to rest that the Times isn’t going to make it,” says Mike Masterson, editor of the newspaper.
Masterson says the Times plans to entrench and keep the Democrat-Gazette and the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas from taking their Washington County readers away.
With the additional employees, the Times will have a staff of 31 in the newsroom, making it the “best staffed 14,000 [circulation] daily in America,” says Masterson.
“We should be the best 14,000 [circulation] daily in America,” he adds.
Masterson says a rule of thumb for Arkansas newspapers is to have one reporter for each 1,000 readers. He says the new hires will come from newspapers across the state.
David Radler, CEO of Hollinger International, and Jerry Stradler, president of American Publishing Co., recently visited Masterson to survey the situation in Fayetteville. The Times is owned by American Publishing, which is based in Chicago and has 90 daily newspapers in the United States. Hollinger International, the parent company of American Publishing, owns London Daily Telegraph, the Jerusalem Post and more than 60 newspapers in Canada.
“They said they’d do whatever it took to protect this newspaper, which they consider their best editorial product,” Masterson says. “The beneficiaries are going to be the readers.”
In addition to the new hires, Masterson says the Times gave “significant” across-the-board raises to the existing editorial staff. The Times is also beefing up its press to increase production.
“The morale has never been higher than it is now in this newsroom,” he says.
The Democrat-Gazette has hired several reporters and editors in recent months in preparation to launch a zoned section Northwest Arkansas on July 12.