Hoge Looks Back, NWA Editor Leaves

A file photo of Alyson Hoge, who worked at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and its predecessor, the Arkansas Democrat for a total of 46 years.

As Alyson Hoge neared her last days as the top editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Lisa Thompson announced June 3 that she was resigning as the top editor at the Little Rock daily’s sister paper, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Hoge, who is retiring this month, spent 46 years at the Arkansas Democrat, renamed in 1991 as the Democrat-Gazette. She rose from newsroom clerk to the editorship, hitting some important stops along the way.

As of last week, the paper was still advertising for Hoge’s replacement.

Thompson’s official title was executive editor of Northwest Arkansas Newspapers, a division of WEHCO Media of Little Rock. She spent 23 years with the company, the last two overseeing the reporters, editors and photographers of the NWADG, the River Valley Democrat-Gazette in Fort Smith and WEHCO’s weekly papers in northwest Arkansas.

The longtime editor of another WEHCO daily, Mark Gregory of the Hot Springs Sentinel-Record, also retired this year.

We caught up with Hoge, a former colleague and a fair boss, to ask for parting thoughts, lessons and memories.

She urged leaders to always do what’s morally right. “Nobody can successfully argue against doing that,” she said. “It gives you confidence and peace of mind in your daily actions to know you are doing the right thing.”

Hoge also urges executives to take care of themselves, suggesting physical and mental breaks and a hobby that takes the mind off work. “Eat right, sleep well, see your doctors,” she advised.

“Challenge yourself at work by taking on tasks, duties or jobs that you don’t have experience in handling,” Hoge continued. “You may not like the experience but you will be better for it.”

Another rule to live and work by: “See a problem, pitch a solution.”

She suggests starting to prepare for retirement in your 20s, or at least as soon as possible. And she tells leaders to remember one fearless act from their pasts. “I once used a water hose and a plastic yard broom to persuade a 4-foot rattlesnake near my carport to go back in the woods. If I’m not afraid of a rattlesnake, why should I be afraid of you?”

Years after Hoge left the paper’s state Capitol bureau, she and her future husband, the photographer David Hoge, watched a replay of “Lawrence of Arabia” at the Cinema 150 on Asher Avenue. “In the lobby were Bill and Hillary Clinton, who still remembered me,” she said.

It was 1989, before Bill Clinton announced that he’d be running for president.

“I introduced them to David and said our wedding date was to be Jan. 20, which I picked because it was presidential inauguration day and therefore easy for me to remember,” Hoge recalled. “I told them that when Bill was being inaugurated, we’d be celebrating our anniversary.”

Thompson, who started as Sunday editor of the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas in 2002, started working as a professional journalist in 1983, according to an email to her staff in northwest Arkansas. “Yes, most of us worked on typewriters back then,” she wrote. “I have worked with many dedicated, talented people who shared my passion … for giving the reader information to think about rather than telling him what to think.” Her resignation, which she said would give her more time for personal pursuits, is effective July 28.

“I would do it all over again,” she said.