Longtime Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Reporter Andrew Moreau Steps Away From the Beat

Andrew Moreau

If you’re a regular business reader of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, as we are, you may have noticed an absent byline recently: Andrew Moreau’s.

So Whispers reached out and caught up with the workhorse reporter and business columnist in his hometown, New Orleans. He said he’d returned in mid-March to help with family, including his aging mother.

“It was just time to come and do some things that I needed to do down here,” said Moreau, who worked two stints at the Little Rock daily before and after spending a decade as vice president of corporate communications of Alltel.

“The paper was fantastic. I enjoyed it, and I had a lot of freedom to cover what I wanted to cover,” he said. “It was just family duty calling.”

Moreau said that at 65, he’s unsure yet if he wants any future working role. “I’ve been getting settled here and I have a good friend in Hawaii, where I’ll spend a lot of time going back and forth. But I like the freedom of not being tied to any assignment.”

Moreau’s byline count at the Democrat-Gazette was significant. Between September 2019 and his last byline on March 12, his name appeared on more than 1,000 pieces, about one every other day.

Democrat-Gazette Managing Editor Alyson Hoge will surely miss that output from Moreau, a Loyola University graduate.

“We were sad to see him leave,” she told Whispers. “I’ve known Andy a long time. But I also understand the pull of family, which is so important.”