In case you missed it, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has ceased publication of its free weekly, Sync, launched in 2007.
Sync’s last issue hit the newsstands on Wednesday. Alan Leveritt, publisher of Little Rock’s free weekly Arkansas Times, said he sympathizes with the decision to drop Sync.
“The media environment in Little Rock is as competitive as I’ve seen it in 41 years,” he said. “I don’t celebrate anyone having to close a newspaper and people losing their jobs.”
Only one of five Sync staffers was let go, according to the Dem-Gaz. When it launched, many considered Sync a direct competitor to the Times, which owns a big chunk of the local market that Sync was after. Meanwhile, Leveritt said the Times is doing well and he’s “very grateful for that.”
Et Cetera
- Tegna Inc., the Gannett television spinoff that owns Little Rock’s KTHV, Channel 11, reached a deal with satellite TV provider DISH Network to return all of its stations to the DISH lineup. The Tegna lineup was briefly interrupted while the company’s contract with DISH was renegotiated.
- Jo Ellison, a former reporter for KHBS/KHOG, Channels 40/29, in northwest Arkansas, has returned to the airwaves with KFSM, Channel 5, in NWA.
- Anchor/reporter Jessi Turnure has moved from KAIT, Channel 8, in Jonesboro to KARK/KLRT, Channels 4/16, in Little Rock.
- KATV, Channel 7, has launched a new, streamlined website at KATV.com.
- The Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas was No. 3 in a recent ranking of the top 50 online bachelor’s degree in business management programs by business education and career guide website Top Management Degrees.
