NBC 24/51 Settles Anchor Positions

KPOM/KFAA NBC 24/51, which returned to the air this year after an eight-year absence, has finalized several positions.

Senior reporter/anchor Rhonda Justice will work with reporter/anchor Don Elkins on the 5 p.m. news broadcast.

And reporter/anchor Darlee Chaloupek has moved from the morning program Arkansas NBC Today to working alongside Elkins on the 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts.

Chaloupek previously worked at Joplin, Mo., NBC affiliate KSNF.

Neile Jones, a former weekend anchor, will now handle the morning program.

Alliance one-ups Donrey … again

The Morning News served the “alliance” newspapers a lob on Dec. 16 when it ran a house advertisement saying “Our loyalties are divided” between the Arkansas Razorbacks and the University of Nevada at Las Vegas Rebels in the Dec. 21 Las Vegas Bowl football game.

“They’re both hometown teams to us,” said the ad, which contained the words “Go Hogs!” and “Go Rebs!” on each side of a photograph of a football.

The alliance newspapers responded with an almost identical ad that read “Our loyalties are clear,” with the words “Go Hogs!” on each side of the pigskin.

Donrey Media Group of Fort Smith owns The Morning News and the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The alliance newspapers consist of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the Northwest Arkansas Times of Fayetteville and The Benton County Daily Record. Community Publishers Inc., which owns the Times and Daily Record, and Wehco Media Inc., which owns the D-G, entered into a joint news-covering and delivery agreement in August.

The advertising one-upmanship started on newspaper rack cards. The Morning News made purple cards that read, “Get Local.” The Times responded with similar cards that read, “Been Local Since 1860.”