Four Arkansas public radio stations have formed Natural State News, a statewide multimedia journalism collaboration based at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
The move is the result of a $278,300 grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). Natural State News will be a statewide news service focusing on reaching rural areas of the state. Member stations are KUAR/KLRE at UALR, KUAF at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, KASU at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, and KTXK at Texarkana College in Texarkana, Texas.
KUAR is the lead station for the project, and Ben Fry, general manager of KUAR and classical station KLRE, will lead the collaboration, according to a press release from UALR.
“We’ve been dreaming about a collaboration like this for many years,” Fry told Arkansas Business. “We’re so excited to have CPB support us in bringing together Arkansas’ public radio stations in a more formal way.”
Natural State News marks their first official joint venture between the stations, who have collaborated before but never in an official capacity. The group will focus on issues related to “wealth, poverty, race and decision-making” in the areas of education, health and energy. It will report breaking news as well as produce special interest stories.
The group’s content will be published online and heard on local and national public radio programs such as NPR’s “Morning Edition,” “All Things Considered” and “Here and Now,” the release said.
“CPB is pleased to support this historic collaboration of Arkansas public media stations,” said Bruce Theriault, senior vice president of journalism and radio for CPB. “The Natural State News collaboration is an example of increased media integration and a pathway for stations to work together to maximize resources while expanding their high-quality journalism.”
The grant will help fund for new positions: a managing editor, two additional reporters and a partner manager, who will raise additional funds for the project. Three of the new positions will be based in Little Rock and one reporter will work out of Jonesboro.
The group will partner with the UALR Institute on Race and Ethnicity, the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, Arkansas Educational Television Network (AETN) and the Spanish language print publication El Latino.
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