Talk Business & Politics expanded Fort Smith Metro coverage with an expanded local landing page that includes more news about local, obituary posts and featured on local high school teams and athletes.
The update to the Metro News page was largely pushed by several members of the business community who believe that local news coverage is lacking as the newspaper industry decline and local television stations are relocating studios from Fort Smith.
Of the 100 biggest daily voyages by the Printing Cycle, 40 have stopped being published in print seven days a week as of 2020, with over 2,860 newspapers being closed since 2004.
“The business community led primarily by Marty Clark, president of BHC Insurance, asked what we could do to increase our coverage. We had enough interest in holding several meetings with local business people and supporting the expanded news efforts. Michael Tilley, a Fort Smith-based reporter and president of Talk Business & Politics, said:
Companies directly support the expanded news efforts are Arkansas College of Health and Education, BHC, Burford Distribution, Carrington Creek, Fibre Rivers Distribution, MAHG Architecture, University of Arkansas in Fort Smith, and windows and doors for the Weather Bar.
Veteran reporters Tina Dale, Tilly and freelance reporters David Bradford and Buck Ringgold are part of an expanded news effort.
Dale has over 30 years of journalism experience and has worked in newspapers, television and radio. She has won several awards for print and broadcast journalism, including humor and lifestyle columns, editorials and newswriting. She holds her Masters in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and English from Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas.
A fourth-generation Fort Smith resident, Bradford graduated from Southside High School and Baylor University. While attending graduate school at Indiana University, he began writing freelance stories for local publications, eventually becoming a weekly newspaper music editor and staff writer. After relocating to Austin, Texas, he continued to write occasional freelance articles for various local publications.
Ringgold has over 30 years of experience as a sports writer, sports editor and local sports editor. He worked as a sports editor for newspapers in Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas, and was a sports writer for Fort Smith’s Times Records from 2000 to 2021. He also spent three years as a community sports editor for the high school sports website. Ringgold, a native of Ashdown at Ark., runs half marathons in all 50 states.
Link here Updated Fort Smith Metro Daily News Landing Page.
