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Arkansas Educational Television Network

Construction / Restaurants & Food / Small Business

Blackberry Market Build-Out DelayedLock Icon

The owners are facing the same challenges as other businesses with supply chain holdups. read more >
Executive Director Courtney Pledger consulted with Gov. Asa Hutchinson before announcing a new name for AETN: Arkansas PBS.
Education / Government & Politics / Legal

AETN, Now Arkansas PBS, Looks to Turn CornerLock Icon

While pushing its traditional TV role into the digital age, Arkansas PBS, until recently the Arkansas Educational Television Network, is also at a crossroads of identity. read more >
Courtney Pledger is executive director and CEO of Arkansas Educational Television Network.
Media & Marketing / Nonprofits

AETN Reaches Compromise; Foundation to Get Its Own CEO

The Arkansas Educational Television Network Commission briskly voted to approve a compromise with its fundraising arm Tuesday morning, ending months of feuding with the AETN Foundation. read more >
Courtney Pledger is executive director and CEO of Arkansas Educational Television Network.
Government & Politics / Nonprofits

Governor Says AETN Chief Will Take Lesson From Audit

Gov. Asa Hutchinson weighed in on controversies at AETN late Monday, assuring Arkansans that Executive Director Courtney Pledger will learn from an audit report finding $400,000 in misused spending. read more >
Education / Government & Politics / Legal

AETN Standoff Drags OnLock Icon

Three months after setting a deadline, there has been no resolution announced in a stalemate that followed the firing of chief fundraiser Mona Dixon, the AETN Foundation COO who had been a fixture in Arkansas educational TV for three decades. read more >
Education / Legal / Media & Marketing

AETN Foundation Lawyers UpLock Icon

Lawyers are talking and meetings are set in the power struggle between the Arkansas Educational Telecommunications Network and its nonprofit fundraising arm, the AETN Foundation. read more >
Amy Oliver Barnes
Education / Media & Marketing

Amy Barnes Talks Jobs in PR, and Retirement

After decades as a reporter, TV anchor and PR pro and professor, Amy Oliver Barnes managed to bury the lead. read more >
The AETN Commission, chaired by Annette Herrington at left, has demanded its executive director, Courtney Pledger in center, to be reinstated as director and CEO of the AETN Foundation, chaired by Lynne Rich at right.
Education / Government & Politics / Legal

Documents Shed Light on AETN Power Struggle

A deal to end a power struggle between the state’s educational TV network and its nonprofit fundraising foundation is under negotiation. read more >
Mona Dixon
Education / Legal / Media & Marketing

Ousted Mona Dixon Floats Deal to AETNLock Icon

Details are emerging about a settlement offer floated by Mona Dixon, the longtime AETN Foundation COO who was dismissed by AETN Executive Director Courtney Pledger in February. read more >
Courtney Pledger is executive director and CEO of Arkansas Educational Television Network.
Education / Government & Politics / Legal

AETN Standoff Still on StandbyLock Icon

A crucial deadline in the Arkansas Educational Telecommunications Network’s standoff with its nonprofit fundraising foundation came and went this month with no resolution. read more >
Courtney Pledger is executive director and CEO of Arkansas Educational Television Network.
Education / Government & Politics / Media & Marketing

AETN Commission Demands Allegiance to PledgerLock Icon

The Arkansas Educational Television Network Commission has issued an ultimatum to its nonprofit counterpart, the fundraising AETN Foundation: Get on board with Executive Director Courtney Pledger or else. read more >
Courtney Pledger, AETN executive director
Education / Government & Politics / Nonprofits

Pledger Actions Drive AETN Employees to ComplainLock Icon

Bad blood at the Arkansas Educational Television Network is spilling further into public, with employees accusing Executive Director Courtney Pledger of forcing early retirements, retaliating against subordinates who question her and holding employees in “open contempt.” read more >
AETN Commission Chairman Annette Herrington praised AETN Executive Director Courtney Pledger in a meeting last week. The firing of AETN Foundation COO Mona Dixon wasn't brought up.
Education / Government & Politics / Nonprofits

Rocked by Rift, Pledger Earns Applause at AETN Commission MeetingLock Icon

The rift between the Arkansas Educational Television Network and its support and fundraising arm, the AETN Foundation, didn’t get any mention at Tuesday’s quarterly meeting of the AETN Commission in Little Rock. read more >
 Courtney Pledger and Mona Dixon
Government & Politics / Legal

Consulting Payment, Veteran COO’s Firing Open Rift Between AETN and Foundation

Questions about payment practices and the subsequent firing of a three-decade employee have jolted the Conway headquarters of the Arkansas Educational Television Network and its nonprofit partner and fundraiser, the AETN Foundation. read more >
From left: Courtney Pledger, Stephen Addison, Houston Davis and Asa Hutchinson.
Business Services / Government & Politics / Legal

UCA Cyber Range to Produce Needed Talent

The new cyber range at the University of Central Arkansas will complement the school’s new bachelor’s degree program and deliver to a fast-growing job field the talent it desperately needs to combat cybercrime. read more >
Courtney Pledger 
Executive Director of the Arkansas Educational Television Network
Education / Media & Marketing

Courtney Pledger Promises AETN’s Contributions to Arkansas Culture Will Continue

Courtney Pledger, the executive director of AETN, details the network’s plans to focus on Arkansas content and Arkansas stories. read more >
Courtney Pledger, AETN executive director
Education / Media & Marketing / Tourism

AETN to Cover High School Football, Basketball Championships

The Arkansas Educational Television Network, focusing on more local content under Executive Director Courtney Pledger, announced this morning that it will be kicking off high school football championship coverage in the state this fall. read more >
Vanessa McKuin and Bobby Ampezzan lead Arkansas Public Media, a statewide network for public radio, TV and the internet, funded through a $287,300 grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Education / Nonprofits

Fate of Arkansas Public Media Illustrates Struggles Facing Nonprofit Coverage Model

Bobby Ampezzan didn’t learn he was on the firing line till August, but he knew his nonprofit Arkansas Public Media project was in trouble when an 11th-hour appeal for additional national grant money crashed. Spectacularly. read more >
Republican incumbent Rep. French Hill will face two challengers in the general election for Arkansas' 2nd District, Libertarian Joe Swafford and Democrat Clarke Tucker.
Government & Politics / Health Care / Legal

Health Care on Sidelines in Arkansas 2nd District Debate

Attempts to scrap the federal health care law have been the focus of Democrats' efforts to flip a congressional seat in solidly red Arkansas, but the issue was sidelined in the only debate between Rep. French Hill and challenger Clarke Tucker. read more >
Media & Marketing / Restaurants & Food / Small Business

Arkansas Food Has Champion in Kat Robinson

By leveraging her education and professional experience, Kat Robinson has marketed her stories about Arkansas food and restaurants with great success. read more >