Talk Business & Politics hires George Jared to lead coverage in Northeast Arkansas
by July 17, 2016 2:59 pm 368 views
Veteran reporter and author George Jared has joined Talk Business & Politics and will cover the growing Northeast Arkansas area for the statewide media company.
Jared, who received 29 awards between 2012 and 2015 for his reporting on Northeast Arkansas, earned a bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Lyon College and has more than 12 years of reporting experience. He has written for several publications, including the Jonesboro Sun and Baxter Bulletin, and recently published a book, “Witches in West Memphis” that chronicled his coverage of the infamous West Memphis Three case and two other murder cases.
His reporting also was cited in the Academy Award nominated film, “Paradise Lost III … Purgatory,” and the New York Times best-selling book, “Life After Death.”
Jared’s work will focus on business and political news in Northeast Arkansas, but he also will help Talk Business & Politics cover news and events of statewide importance.
Roby Brock, publisher and CEO of Natural State Media, said Jared is a respected journalist and will help Talk Business & Politics improve coverage of Northeast Arkansas.
“Talk Business & Politics has long recognized that Northeast Arkansas plays a vital role in the state’s economy and politics. It’s why we started a bureau in this region several years ago. I know with George’s knowledge of the region and expert writing that he will elevate our coverage in the area to not only provide daily news of importance to local readers, but to the rest of our readers statewide. We’re committed to growing our presence in Northeast Arkansas and George is a big part of our plan for the future,” Brock said.
Part of expanding news coverage in Northeast Arkansas includes airing of Talk Business & Politics with Roby Brock, a weekly half-hour TV news program now in its 17th year. The show is aired on content partner KAIT’s NBC affiliate in Northeast Arkansas at 10 a.m. following “Meet the Press.”
Talk Business & Politics has also added Stephanie Brock as a producer for the new daily digital newscast that can be viewed Monday through Friday at 5 p.m. on TalkBusiness.net and through our social media channels. Brock formerly worked for River Rock Communications.
Additionally, Talk Business & Politics will make changes to several products:
• A new Finance/Banking/Investments microsite will launch in August at TalkBusiness.net;
• The daily TB&P statewide email newsletter will add a roundup of Tourism news to its Tuesday line-up; and
• The bi-monthly magazine, Talk Business & Politics, will move to an annual publication in January 2017, featuring a “State of the State” analysis of business and politics.
The newly formatted Talk Business & Politics resulted from the October 2015 merger of River Rock Communications and TCW Media (The City Wire). The new company, Natural State Media is based in Fort Smith, and focuses coverage on business and political news in Northwest Arkansas, the Fort Smith metro, central Arkansas, Northeast Arkansas and statewide. Owners of the company are Roby Brock, Patricia Brown, Chester Koprovic, Michael Tilley, and Bennie Westphal.