In emailed responses to questions from Whispers about recent staff changes at KARK-TV, Channel 4, in Little Rock, General Manager Mike Vaughn would neither confirm nor deny rumors that three newsroom managers were fired earlier this month.
Vaughn did confirm, however, that the news director of about seven years, Rob Heverling; Assistant News Director Jeff Whatley; and Executive Producer Stephanie Jackson ended their employment with KARK on March 2.
“It’s our company policy that we can’t comment on personnel issues,” he said.
Austin Kellerman, coming from a station in Abilene, Texas, immediately replaced Heverling as news director. Kellerman is “aggressively searching” for his future management team, Vaughn said.
“The positions were not eliminated,” Vaughn said. “We will be adding back numerous positions.”
