Media Updates
Deep South Today, a nonprofit network of newsrooms that seeks to fill holes in “communities across the South that have lost reliable sources of reporting,” will launch its Arkansas Today outlet this fall. Arkansas Today will focus on in-depth, nonpartisan reporting statewide with hubs in Little Rock and NWA, and with a familiar name leading the network.
“Deep South Today is ready to meet the need for reliable and nonpartisan local news in Arkansas, a state with an outsized record of producing what the rest of the country notices,” says Warwick Sabin, Deep South Today president and CEO. “Its communities launched an American president, military leaders, Fortune 100 companies and cultural institutions that shape industries far beyond its borders. None of that happened in isolation. It happened because Arkansans work together: in their schools, town halls, civic clubs, churches, chambers and at their kitchen tables with a shared sense of what their communities need next. We are creating Arkansas Today to support that tradition by giving Arkansans the credible, in-depth local information they can use to continue building upon it.”
Meanwhile, after an influx of private donations, Arkansas TV will remain affiliated with PBS for at least another year. Public outcry and a mass exit of donors caused the Arkansas TV Commission to reconsider its proposed disaffiliation after losing federal funding, leading to local fundraising efforts to cover a year’s worth of PBS membership dues, roughly $2.1 million.
Gifts & Grants
Economics Arkansas received a grant from the Blue & You Foundation to support its Connecting Educators to Industry professional development initiative through May 2028.
CareLink received $253,320 in grant funding from Meals on Wheels America, enabling it to add 150 locals to its program and support delivery of more than 27,000 meals to central Arkansas seniors.
The Windgate Foundation provided a $7 million grant to UAMS to support a variety of scholarships, as well as establish a $5 million endowment for the newly created Chancellor’s Scholars Program. Windgate also granted $3.9 million to Philander Smith University to support student access and establish a need-based scholarship endowment.
High Praise
Annie Zimmerman of Episcopal Collegiate School and Collin Carlton of Pulaski Academy took home top honors at the Broadway Bound Awards of Central Arkansas hosted by Stage 13 and Celebrity Attractions. The two went on to compete in NYC at the National High School Musical Theatre Awards, also known as the Jimmy Awards.
The Arkansas Black Hall of Fame Foundation announced its 2026 class of inductees: Rebecca “Becky” and Darrell Finney, Frank A. James, Joe Marcus Johnson, Raymond P. Miller, Hazell Reed and Shirley N. Weber. Honorees will be celebrated on Oct. 24 at the Robinson Center.
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Game On
Moses Moody — the Golden State Warrior, NBA Champion, former Arkansas Razorback and Little Rock native — returns to his hometown this month, and he’s bringing Stephen Curry with him. The two are visiting for Moody’s Motivate One Foundation Summer Series promoting “mentorship, empowerment, wellness and giving back to the next generation in Arkansas.”
Big Moves
The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra appointed Matthew Pavon as its new associate conductor beginning Aug. 1.
Harriet Hawkins is now the volunteer coordinator for Home for Healing.
SoMa 501 added Christopher Burks and Sarah Thomas to its board of directors.
Forward Arkansas’ Center for Early Learning Solutions added two new team members: early learning operations and analysis manager Danell Hetrick and early learning initiatives manager Mollie Hill.
Ryan Miller is the new chief development officer for Achieve Community Alliance (formerly United Cerebral Palsy of Arkansas).