To the editor,
It’s hard for students today to understand the kind of rivalry that once existed in two-newspaper towns. The competition of reporters at the afternoon paper versus those at the morning paper is legendary. Little Rock, Arkansas, was one of those kinds of towns.
After reading Mattias Miller’s Oct. 23 story, “A Hussman history: How an Arkansas newspaper war led to a landmark UNC donation,” I thought a bit of history and context would be good for the DTH’s archives.
A few years ago, I listened to the amazing in-depth local Arkansas NPR documentary on the Little Rock newspaper wars that was created with the help of a Ph.D.’s dissertation. It was really Walter Hussman’s story of merging the two newspaper rivals into the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. It was a drama with emotion, passions and a court case that Hussman eventually won.
That documentary told me that Walter Hussman is not only a dedicated publisher focused on values of service and serious journalism, but he is also a good businessman. And today, we need media leaders with both assets.
Keeping news that serves our democracy alive demands innovation and good business sense. Today’s UNC Hussman students — and tomorrow’s — should feel proud to have a family name that stands for credibility, impartiality and the pursuit of truth.
Susan King
Dean
