News, sales veterans to help The City Wire

The City Wire has contracted with two news veterans and a 21-year veteran with Wal-Mart to develop content and promote The City Wire brand in Northwest Arkansas.

The City Wire, re-launched in November 2008, is a media company that covers business, politics and culture in the Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas regions. News on The City Wire (www.thecitywire.com) also includes statewide business and political news. More than 1.03 million people have visited the website between Nov. 1, 2008 and Sept. 30, 2012, and logged more than 6.08 million pageviews.

BAGLEY
Julie Fike Bagley has agreed to help coordinate Northwest Arkansas arts and events coverage, to include developing stories that also look at the socio-economic impact of the arts, charities and entertainment in the region.

Bagley has more than 15 years experience in journalism. She graduated from the University of Arkansas with an emphasis in broadcasting journalism. She began her career in Tulsa working for the Williams Companies in advertising distribution. She then spent several years in television news, including being a producer in Fort Smith/Fayetteville, Tulsa, San Antonio and Houston. Bagley then moved to Oklahoma City to executive produce a 2-hour morning newscast.

“Bagley brings a high level of managerial and organization skills to The City Wire as well as a creative mindset for story planning and event coverage across both Northwest Arkansas and the Fort Smith metro area,” said Kim Souza, Northwest Arkansas editor for The City Wire.

After more than 10 years in television news, Bagley moved to the corporate world.

She worked for American Fidelity Assurance in Oklahoma City, Okla., working in marketing coordinating its annual national sales conference, developing campaigns and writing articles for several trade magazines.

After three years in the insurance industry, Bagley returned to Northwest Arkansas and worked for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., in communications for the Information Systems Division. She was responsible for executive communication, content on the division's intranet site and various marketing campaigns.
 
Bagley has been freelance writing for The City Wire since March. She lives in Fayetteville with her husband and son. She can be reached at [email protected]

KNIGHT
Peggy Knight has agreed to be a sales leader in generating advertising and sponsorship revenue for The City Wire. In addition to working the sales side, her proven ability to build a brand through marketing will be a benefit to The City Wire.

Knight began working with Wal-Mart Stores in 1983 as a payroll clerk in a distribution center in Cullman, Ala.

She rose through the system, and joined in 1985 the relatively new Sam’s Club division of Wal-Mart. Her years with Sam’s Club include being an assistant store manager in Atlanta, a regional marketing manager based in Atlanta, and the manager of new markets for Sam’s Club.

After a brief stint with GE Capital, Knight returned to Bentonville to serve as director of specialty marketing for Wal-Mart. She left Wal-Mart in 2005 as senior director of financial services and product marketing.

“We feel very fortunate that Peggy saw The City Wire and liked the product enough to want to be part of it,” said Patricia Brown, chief operating officer for TCW Media. “We are blessed to be able to tap into her vast experience and her numerous contacts in Northwest Arkansas.”

Knight can be reached at [email protected]

SMITH
Jamie Smith will use her reporting talents to help The City Wire develop story ideas, cover breaking news and work with Bagley on the covering the business side of the arts and entertainment scene in Northwest Arkansas.

Smith has more than a decade of journalism experience including publications with a local, regional, national and international audience.

She’s worked for newspapers in Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas where she covered everything including community events, Native American issues, education and civic government. She has interviewed people from all walks of life from 5-year olds in kindergarten to corporate leaders. She’s even interviewed dogs, with the translation help of their owners, of course.

A 2000 graduate of John Brown University, Smith put her journalism major and business minor to good use when she began several years ago a freelance writing business, Jamie’s Notebook.

Born and raised in Wichita, Kan., Smith has called Northwest Arkansas home since 2002. Before that she lived in Oklahoma after graduating from JBU. She and husband John live in Elkins. Smith can be reached at [email protected]

“Smith is a veteran journalist with unique enterprise reporting talents,” Souza said. “Her level of professionalism and adept writing skills combined with a disciplined work ethic are a true winning formula.”