King joins The City Wire; will direct A&E coverage

Arkansas newspaper veteran Cyd King has joined The City Wire and will lead the web publication’s arts and entertainment coverage in the Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas metro areas.

The City Wire, re-launched in November 2008, is a news website that covers business, politics and culture in the Fort Smith region, and will soon expand to Northwest Arkansas and include more statewide business and political news. More than 617,000 website visits were logged between Nov. 1, 2008 and Nov. 1, 2011, with more than 4.143 million pageviews.

King is a career journalist with almost 20 years experience at the Arkansas Democrat and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. She began as Fayetteville bureau chief for the Democrat, and later worked as a business writer, editor and columnist for the Northwest Arkansas Profiles section of the Democrat-Gazette, Northwest edition.

She moves to The City Wire after a year as a public relations account manager for the Little Rock-based advertising/marketing firm Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods.

As the Arts & Entertainment editor for The City Wire, King will be responsible to produce and manage coverage of events, issues and people within the arts and entertainment communities of Northwest Arkansas and the Fort Smith metro area. King also will manage freelance writers and photographers.

“We are extremely fortunate to have Cyd join The City Wire. Her ideas, energy and connections will allow The City Wire to greatly improve how we gather and disseminate news and information about the diverse and dynamic arts and entertainment scene in and around the two metro areas,” said Michael Tilley, president of TCW Media.

SEASONED TALENT
Patricia Brown, who was recently promoted to chief operations officer for The City Wire, said hiring King is part of the media company’s goal to hire experienced, professional people who understand that success requires the building and maintenance of good relationships.

“Cyd certainly fits with the seasoned and respected talent already on the editorial and business staff because she has the wisdom, will and work ethic we require,” Brown said.

In her decade as society editor for the Democrat-Gazette, King covered large social events and wrote in-depth personality profiles on decision-makers in the area.

King earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Arkansas Tech University in Russellville and began her first newspaper job in Nashville, Ark., the day after she graduated in 1987. She also worked for the Southwest Times Record in Fort Smith and KFAA/KPOM-TV, the former NBC affiliate in Fort Smith/Rogers, Arkansas.

She and her husband, Bruce Richart, live in a circa 1905 house they remodeled in Fayetteville’s Washington-Willow Historic District with Cyd’s 15-year-old daughter, Carley King. In her spare time, she works as a volunteer for groups including the Northwest office of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, Washington Regional's Faith in Action and the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Last fall, she was appointed to the Fayetteville Arts Council.

THE CITY WIRE ADDITIONS
King, who will begin her duties Jan. 9, is the third person to join The City Wire in the past 45 days.

Daelene Brown began Nov. 7 as the business manager for The City Wire, and has 16 years experience in human resources and office management. She previously served as tournament coordinator for the Fort Smith Classic. In that role she managed daily operations and supervised administrative staff of the tournament office for the Nationwide Tour.

Debbie Foliart, retained on Nov. 14 to support sales and leadership development for The City Wire, has more than 30 years in the newspaper industry. She has held management positions with Gannett Co., Donrey Media Group and Stephens Media Group. Two of the jobs were in key sales management roles with the Times Record in Fort Smith and The Morning News in Northwest Arkansas.

The City Wire staff and freelancers also includes:
• Adam Brandt, restaurant critic
• Amanda Carson, freelance writer
• Ruby Dean, freelance writer and photographer
• Jennifer Douglas, technical support
• Tyler Fink, technical support
• Roy Hill, freelance writer
• Luke Hobbs, freelance writer
• Linda Kaufenberg, freelance writer and photographer
• Peter Lewis, movie and music reviews
• Shayne McKinney, technical consultant
• Jake McTyre, web and technical support
• Aric Mitchell, freelance writer-news and sports
• Joel Rafkin, freelance writer and photographer
• Brittany Ransom, freelance writer and photographer
• Chris Rushing, freelance writer-sports

The City Wire also formed and continues to benefit from content partnerships with KFSM 5 News, Little Rock-based Talk Business and Fayetteville-based KUAF 91.3 FM.