Times Reporter Gathers No Moss

After 21 years, Rusty Garrett is leaving the Northwest Arkansas Times.

Garrett, who most recently served as business editor, is leaving the Fayetteville newspaper at the end of May for Fort Smith, where he’ll be a business reporter at the Southwest Times Record.

Garrett says he’s not moving because the Times is being sold to Community Publishers Inc. of Bentonville.

“It’s a move I would have made regardless,” he says. “They made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. It wasn’t a decision I made lightly. I just decided to move on. Who knows, I might just decide to up and move off after 20 years in Fort Smith.”

Garrett started working for the Fayetteville newspaper in September 1978. At various times during his tenure there, Garrett served as managing editor, city editor, business editor and a reporter covering Springdale, Fayetteville, Washington County and courts.

“I’ve been through four owners – five if you count Thomson owning it twice,” Garrett says. “But that was a one day thing. We had three owners that one day.”

Garrett was referring to the 1995 sale of the Times by Thomson Newspapers Inc. to NAT L.C., which was formed by interests of the family of Jackson T. Stephens of Little Rock, who owns Donrey Media Group. The sale was ruled to be in violation of antitrust laws and NAT LC was forced by court order relinquish ownership. The Times was then sold later that same day to American Publishing Co., a division of Hollinger International of Canada.

Garrett says the Southwest Times Record is putting special emphasis on business coverage by hiring three or four new reporters.

Garrett’s wife, Laura Garrett, will also leave the Times for a job at the Southwest Times Record, where she will be a copy editor.