D-G Clarifies Severence Package, but Headline Misleads Readers

We were about to give kudos to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for the Page 1 scoop on April 4 that Nolan Richardson will be getting the $6 million buyout he wanted instead of the measley $3 million the University of Arkansas had in mind.

Then we received a copy of a letter from Fred Harrison, general counsel for the UA system, that said the additional $3 million from the Razorback Foundation was “accumulated funds” over Richardson’s tenure at the UA and not part of any “buyout.”

The D-G headline, “Richardson buyout reaches $6 million,” seemed to say something different.

When UA administrators fired Richardson on March 1, they said the former head basketball coach would receive $500,000 a year for six years — one half of what he would have made as UA coach during those years. Richardson was quoted in newspapers saying he thought he would get $6 million, apparently referring to the accumulated funds and not full payment of $1 million per year for his six-year contract.