Northwest Arkansas newspaper war over

Well, damn if that doesn't get the vein in my forehead twitching.

 

A step up from the penny-pinching Donrey days, I guess??

 

Look at the history of JOAs and there's going to be a winner and a loser every time. If these two papers are at parity, why bother? I say go without a JOA and let the better product win. Why drag the whole thing down and leave the whole she-bang to John Dingleberry at Channel 5?

 

Yes, but in many cases, it took 40 years or more to sort out the loser.
Who wouldn't take 40 years' survival at this point?

 

I don't know how long Cincy's lasted. Denver's went almost nine years.

I think anyone would take nine years of job security at this point.

 

What job security? http://bit.ly/mzuzX

 

Pittsburgh's went from the early 60s to 1992, and it died for reasons only tangentially related to the JOA.
Cincy's went from the late 70s to 2007.
That's a lotta years.

 

Most of the people commenting here haven't been there so are really not aware of the scene on the ground. Kind of like those who think Houston Nutt got a raw deal. Do the research. Inky's link is a good start.

 

Sani, if you know more pass it on, but what I am hearing is that people from both papers will be reinterviewing for their jobs.
So competing beat writers will face off and the winner gets to keep their job, while the other gets kicked to the curb.

http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/printable.asp?aid=116861

 

The Post-Herald was always the smaller paper, but it was the morning paper and the News was the afternoon.
After a certain period of time, the News, as the larger paper, flexed its muscle and forced a swap of circulation cycles.
That, essentially, signed the Post-Herald's death certificate. Its afternoon circulation plunged and the News bought out the JOA in 2005, closing the paper.
As someone who was there, it was not fun.

 

Three *big* deals here should the JOA go into effect -- and it will: the new Northwest Arkansas Newspapers will have a five-member board, with WEHCO holding three of the seats. Advantage WEHCO. Second, Razorbacks coverage -- outside of Wal-Mart, the biggest beat in NWA -- will be taken by the current Dem-Gaz folks. Which isn't so bad coverage-wise since they're way stronger than the Stephens slouches -- but also advantage WEHCO. Third... as a new company, seems to me that would mean everyone's salary, benefits and accrued time off is negotiable. Advantage NOT personnel.

 

After reading the articles, it appears as though this JOA isn't like the ones set in up in other cities where there are still separate, competitive editorial staffs.

It's more like in Las Vegas where there are separate newsrooms, but the Sun relies on features content and the section is inserted into the Review-Journal. In Arkansas, one paper concentrated on regionalized news in the area, and the other papers deals with local stuff.