Democrat’s Walmart Reporter Joins Walmart

Robbie Neiswanger

You may have heard that the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is seeking a new Walmart writer, but did you know that’s because the latest reporter is going to work for Walmart Inc.?

The paper is advertising for a reporter to cover its premier business beat for a third time in four years after Robbie Neiswanger gave notice to accept an unspecified Walmart job, several current and former Democrat-Gazette employees told Whispers. Neiswanger had been covering Walmart, the world’s largest company with some $500 billion in annual sales, for about two years.

A former Stephens Media sportswriter, Neiswanger joined the Little Rock paper in 2015 and was based in Springdale; he succeeded Chris Bahn as the Democrat-Gazette’s Walmart writer in 2016. Bahn, now a publisher at Arkansas Business Publishing Group, had inherited the Walmart beat in 2014 from Cyd King, now communications director for the American Heart Association in Fayetteville.

More than a dozen applicants from around the country have responded to an ad the Democrat-Gazette placed June 1 on JournalismJobs.com, insiders say. The ad noted that the beat “generates a steady stream of byline stories, many for the front page.” The advertisement, which gave no salary range for the position, said the job will also involve covering Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, “founded by Walmart heiress Alice Walton.”