APA: Northwest Business Coverage Best in State

We were impressed (and a bit surprised) to see that the three local daily newspapers based in Northwest Arkansas were ranked as the top three in the state in business coverage.

The rankings were announced by the Arkansas Press Association. The papers were judged by members of the Missouri Press Association.

The rankings for business coverage were: 1 – The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas, 2-Benton County Daily Record (Jack Pate) 3- Northwest Arkansas Times (Rusty Garrett and Mike Whiteley).

Receiving an honorable mention was Arkansas Business of Little Rock, our sister publication.

Notably absent from the list was the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, by far the state’s largest newspaper. But we hear the APA awards are based largely on local coverage, and national wire copy stories frequently dominate the D-G’s business section.

The D-G has also been shy a couple of reporters on the Little Rock business desk for some time, but one of those slots was filled in late July by Jim Lovel, formerly an associate editor of Arkansas Business and the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal.

Whitley, who helped the Times win its award, is now employed by Arkansas Business.