WEHCO Media Inc. publisher Eliza Gaines told members of the Little Rock Rotary Club on Tuesday that newspapers remain “deeply trusted and deeply endangered at the same time.”
Gaines took the opportunity to talk about the state of newspapers and the future of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. She said readers place a higher trust in local news than they do in national news outlets, yet the industry struggles.
Gaines described several initiatives designed to attract new, younger audiences and help build subscriptions.
On the list is the pending relaunch of Arkansas Life, a former magazine that will be reborn as an online publication. The magazine revival plan was announced in November.
“It is now going to be a social-first brand aimed at younger Arkansans,” Gaines said. “They may not subscribe to a newspaper yet, but they care deeply about the state.”
The magazine halted operations in 2020 due to financial fallout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Arkansas Life was established in 2008 as a free society magazine for Democrat-Gazette subscribers. In 2017, it rebranded to focus more on news features and articles that highlight the state. The new brand will focus on local culture.
“While Arkansas Life will promote ADG content when it's relevant to that audience, we are also hiring dedicated staff who will create original content specifically for this brand,” Allison Shirk, vice president of content and newsroom strategy for WEHCO Media, said in November when the plan was announced.
Arkansas Life will remain editorially independent from the Democrat-Gazette newsroom and will focus on branded content, partnerships and influencer collaborations.
“By meeting (readers) where they are, through partnerships and influencers and platforms they already use, we're building the audience of the future,” Gaines said.
In August 2024, the newspaper started a loyalty campaign, the Community Journalism Project, a public fundraising initiative designed to bolster newsroom operations.
All stories supported by project funds are available to the public.
“Our hope was that the community would see the paper not just as a product, but as a shared public asset, something worth protecting,” Gaines said.
