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TB&P Announces Northeast Arkansas Publication

2 min read

Talk Business & Politics, Roby Brock’s multimedia franchise of Arkansas business and political coverage, is set to launch a monthly tabloid newsmagazine based in Jonesboro and focused on business and political leaders in northeast Arkansas.

The monthly, Northeast Arkansas Talk Business & Politics, will be modeled on the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal, which Brock acquired by purchasing the journal’s parent company, Gray Matters LLC of Springdale, from Darin and Tami Gray in September 2016.

TB&P is generating a mailing list and says the new magazine will be mailed to business, political and community leaders in 11 counties: Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Greene, Jackson, Lawrence, Mississippi, Poinsett, Sharp and Randolph. The first issue is expected to roll out March 5.

“We will model this in similar fashion to the NWA Business Journal,” Brock said in an email to Arkansas Business. “I expect there to be some politics from northeast Arkansas in this publication, but it will be heavily slanted towards business coverage in the region.”

Brock, the CEO of Natural State Media, the parent company for TB&P, said the new publication, Northeast Arkansas Talk Business & Politics, will complement his brand’s other media platforms, which include the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal and the Talk Business & Politics TV show, which airs on KAIT in Jonesboro as well as KATV in Little Rock and KFSM in northwest Arkansas, as well as on cable systems operated by Fidelity Communications.

TB&P’s website, TalkBusiness.net., also features news content, audio and video from across the state. Brock said on the site Wednesday that the state’s northeast corner is enjoying steady economic growth and “becoming a bigger player” in statewide politics. “Adding this print product to the market will not only allow us to further target our core influential audience with important news, but it will allow us to add even more news content from the region for the rest of the state.”

Rob Gutteridge, a Natural State Media executive vice president and publisher of the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal, will be publisher of the new venture. He’s a native of Pocahontas in northeast Arkansas and a graduate of Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.

News coverage will be led by TB&P’s executive editor, Michael Tilley, and George Jared, head of TB&P’s northeast Arkansas bureau, will contribute. Paul Holmes, a veteran journalist in Jonesboro, has been named editor at large.

“Our initial response from advertisers as well as movers and shakers in the region has been overwhelmingly positive,” Gutteridge said. “We’re excited to bring this product to northeast Arkansas.”

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