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After 34 years in radio, now at Arkansas PBS

by | May 6, 2023 | About Me, Arkansas Week, News

I’m nearing six months into a new job at Arkansas PBS, greatly enjoying working in a new environment with a different set of challenges and the opportunity to try new things. This is my first time working exclusively in television and video-related digital media, but I’m still using the journalism basics that are instilled after decades of being a radio reporter, anchor, editor and manager. I started on Jan. 3 as Senior Producer/Director of Public Affairs.

After accepting the job and giving five weeks notice to longtime employer KUAR-FM 89.1, I posted on social media about my career change.

My last day at KUAR was Dec. 30, 2022, capping more than three decades in radio. I had been with the NPR station at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock since 2009, serving as news director for the last 10 years. While I have a deep love for the medium of radio and podcasts, this was an exciting chance to work in a new realm and help expand news coverage on Arkansas PBS. 

For much of my time at KUAR, I had also appeared regularly on the television network’s flagship public affairs program Arkansas Week, taking part in journalist roundtable discussions on the state’s top political stories. I also occasionally filled in hosting the show and was involved in special coverage, including asking questions of political candidates at debates hosted by Arkansas PBS and its predecessor AETN.

Already knowing several people working at the television network helped in the transition to the new job. I’m working mostly in a managerial, behind the scenes role. Our coverage is seen on 10 television channels throughout Arkansas, covering 96% of the state.  I’ve always enjoyed editing video, but never had an opportunity to do it in a professional setting other than a few videos I produced for KUAR’s website, like one of the 2014 dedication of Johnny Cash’s boyhood home or a 2022 interview with cartoonist Stephan Pastis.

Arkansas Business reporter Kyle Massey, who covers media-related issues and has written extensively about KUAR and Arkansas PBS over the years, had a column about my career change in the Dec. 12 issue.

One clarification from what Kyle wrote, I wasn’t planning on taking the reel-to-reel recorder with – that belonged to the station – but yes on moving the extensive collection of personal items from my office, including vintage microphones, hundreds of cassettes, and other items I’d kept there over the years. 

One of my new responsibilities is overseeing production of Arkansas Week, which marked its 40th anniversary in February. Having been involved in the program in the past, it was a joy helping to produce a segment looking at its history. I interviewed several former regulars on the program, as well as longtime host Steve Barnes. The six-minute segment, which was masterfully edited by producer Jennifer Gibson, aired on the Feb. 17 episode.

The full interviews ended up being so good that we also posted many of those online. You can watch Steve Barnes share not only details of his experiences on Arkansas Week, but his background on how he came to work in television. Also available are the interviews with Ernie Dumas of the Arkansas Gazette, Gwen Moritz of Arkansas Business, and Rex Nelson of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

While my job duties are primarily behind the scenes, I’m comfortable appearing on camera as needed — whatever it takes to land an interview, facilitate live coverage or help on the air during pledge drives. Four days before Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ education reform legislation was filed in the Arkansas General Assembly, I interviewed state Education Secretary Jacob Oliva about the proposal in the rotunda of the state Capitol.

Interviewing Arkansas Education Secretary Jacob Oliva in the state Capitol about the governor’s education proposal on Feb. 16, 2023. Photo: Arkansas Department of Education

The first 10 minutes of my interview was featured in the opening segment of Arkansas Week. We posted an additional six minutes of the interview as an online-only feature with Oliva providing more details on how he was envisioning the proposal, which Sanders had said was her top priority when coming into office.

As part of our state political and government coverage, I also oversee the streaming of live events on the Arkansas Citizens Action Network (AR-CAN), which is included on the Arkansas PBS website. That can involve lining up a crew to shoot events like government meetings or using Zoom and similar services to stream meetings. Some events are of major political interest, while others are offered as a public service to allow viewers to see the inner workings of government.

Reporting live on Sanders’ education proposal for AR-CAN

After Sanders came into office advocating for an overhaul of the state’s education system, we covered several rallies and events on the topic. Some of the coverage included me reporting live, along with the full speeches and interviews with lawmakers.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced details of her education proposal on Feb. 8, 2023 with legislators behind her on the steps leading to the House of Representatives chamber. Photo: Michael Hibblen

In the weeks before the education bill was filed, Sanders provided a few details of what would be included during several rallies. The first was on Jan. 19, with Sanders speaking in the state Capitol rotunda at an event organized by the Arkansas chapter of Americans for Prosperity. She noted for the first time that the changes would be incorporated into one large omnibus bill, and as expected, would include a voucher program allowing parents to use state funds for private, parochial or home schooling.

On Feb. 8, Sanders held a press conference in front of the steps leading to the Arkansas House of Representatives chamber to unveil details of her education proposal called the LEARNS Act. Exact language of the bill would not be released for another couple of weeks.

The 145-page bill was filed at the end of the day on Feb. 20. It was apparent just from the number of sponsors that there was more than enough support for the legislation to pass, with Republicans holding supermajorities in both chambers.

On the day after the bill was introduced, Sanders spoke during a Feb. 21 rally at the Capitol, this time as part of Home School Day.

In the span of just over two weeks, the bill sailed through the legislature. Many Democrats, educators and parents argued there wasn’t sufficient debate for such sweeping changes. The bill was the topic of several episodes of Arkansas Week, with lawmakers from both major parities debating for and against it. Sanders signed the bill into law on March. 8, which we also streamed live.

Surrounded by supporters and family, Gov. Sanders signs the LEARNS Act into law on March 8. Photo: Michael Hibblen

Another key issue during the legislative session, which was discussed heavily on Arkansas Week, was criminal justice reform. With it and education taking up so much time, it was reported that this year’s session saw the fewest number of bills passed since 1971. Lawmakers formally adjourned on May 1.

Beyond my Public Affairs department, it has been fascinating to learn about how Arkansas PBS operates and the many things it is involved in. The original productions, ranging from educational kids programming to more serious topics, have been especially interesting to see being produced. We have a podcast studio equipped with three cameras that was most recently used for a grant-funded series called The Growing Season. Even the annual Arkansas Governor’s Quiz Bowl championship for high school students was fun. My role in the April 22 broadcast, which featured seven rounds each lasting about an hour, was controlling the buzzer as participants competed.

During two nights of our spring pledge drive I appeared on-camera pitching for viewer support. One evening was during PBS NewsHour and Nature. The other was while airing three documentaries produced in the 1990s by the late Arkansas television journalist Jack Hill. In between each one, Casey Sanders and I interviewed the authors of a book about Hill and his former wife.

Bob Cochran and Dale Carpenter discuss their book about Jack Hill alongside his former wife Anne Hill during an evening when we aired three of his documentaries. Photo: Kai Caddy/Arkansas PBS

Walking Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin through Arkansas PBS before taping an episode of Arkansas Week on Feb. 3, 2023 . Photo: Attorney General’s Office

Moving forward, I hope to continue expanding digital offerings by Arkansas PBS, especially for news-related events. It’s a pleasure working with an impressive team of professionals. It’s also an honor being part of a television network that I grew up watching with a deep history in the state.

BBC Features my 1996 Interviews with Executed Buddhist Inmate Si-Fu Frankie Parker and Gov. Mike Huckabee

by | Feb 23, 2021 | About Me, Arkansas History

A mug shot of Si-Fu Frankie Parker on May 22, 1996.

The BBC World Service podcast Witness History recently looked back at the 1996 Arkansas execution of Si-Fu Frankie Parker. I was surprised to learn about his case getting renewed attention when I received a request to use audio from an interview I had recorded with Parker two weeks before his execution. I had also spoken exclusively with then-Gov. Mike Huckabee, whose first official act as governor was scheduling Parker’s execution date. The interviews were used in a half-hour program I produced for KUAR which aired August 8, 1996 in the hours before his execution.

The BBC program, which you can find on this link or listen to below, also features a recent interview with Anna Cox, a Buddhist leader who had gotten to know Parker when he expressed interest in Buddhism after 30 days in solitary confinement on death row. She acknowledged that Parker had been a mean person who did horrible things.

In 1984, Parker kidnapped his estranged wife, killed her parents, and shot and wounded a Rogers, Ark. police officer. He was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. While in solitary confinement, or what was known as “the hole” for committing infractions, the only reading material inmates were allowed was a Bible. Parker said after becoming restless and requesting a Bible, a guard instead threw a copy of the Dhammapada into the cell, which is a book of Buddhist teachings. After initially being even angrier, Cox said Parker eventually read the book and by the time he emerged from isolation had memorized the verses and was a changed man.

Cox would eventually meet Parker, and they became close friends. It also led to her becoming a spiritual advisor, not just for Parker, but also other inmates. On the day of his execution, Cox and other Buddhists set up a tent outside the gates of Cummins Prison. She described the scene for reporter Ibby Caputo 25 years later, which was eloquently told for the BBC feature.

AUDIO: My original half-hour program for KUAR that aired on August 8, 1996 in the hours before Si-Fu Frankie Parker’s execution. It includes parts of my interviews with Parker and then-Gov. Mike Huckabee. The program would win a first place award from the Arkansas Associated Press for Best Enterprise/ Investigative Reporting.

The experience of interviewing Parker in the weeks before his death and meeting many of his friends had a big impact on me. I had covered many executions by that point, but never had any contact with the inmates or served as a media witness. This was also the only time I had spoken with a governor about an execution. Most governors would sign the orders without comment to the press.

Reporting on the COVID-19 Pandemic

by | May 18, 2020 | About Me

Today the death toll from COVID-19 in Arkansas reached 100. It has been about nine weeks since the novel coronavirus arrived in the state, with the first positive case reported on March 11. The virus would spread rapidly, with the state Department of Health now reporting more than 4,800 positive cases. While Arkansas hasn’t been impacted as bad as some parts of the country, it has still been grim reporting on the ever-increasing numbers.

Life would change drastically soon after the first case in the state, with schools, restaurants and other businesses ordered to close, though Gov. Asa Hutchinson drew some controversy for never issuing a shelter-in-place order as governors of most other states had done. For a while I reported daily on the outbreak, starting with a special report on KUAR shortly after the announcement of the first case. In the weeks that followed, I anchored the station’s live broadcasts of Hutchinson’s daily press briefings.

I was a panelist on the Arkansas PBS program Arkansas Week on March 20 to discuss steps that had been taken at that point and impacts of the closings. I was in the TV studio for the program, which can be watched here, but soon Arkansas Week, like so many other programs, would shift to hosts and others taking part remotely.

At my home office in Little Rock on April 7. There are definite pluses and minuses to working from home.

KUAR also had to scale back how many people were coming into the station, so I, like most of the staff, began working from home. Only our local Morning Edition and All Things Considered anchors are in the station regularly. The afternoon anchor has also started handling the broadcasts of the governor’s daily briefings.

20 years ago, I also would broadcast from home while working as a Miami-based reporter for CBS News Radio, so it wasn’t that strange to again be writing and voicing reports from home. What I have missed, however, is the comradery of the newsroom, as well as getting out to cover stories in-person.

When the governor and health officials started encouraging people to avoid being out in public, my news staff and I adjusted to monitoring press conferences and meetings online or recording phone interviews using an app. What’s lacking are details that a reporter can only pick up while being where news is happening. There’s also not the same ability to interact with people and ask questions to be sure I’m completely understanding something I’m covering.

As news director of KUAR, it’s very different to oversee my staff and plan coverage remotely, using shared documents to determine assignments and relying more heavily on emails and texts. I’m very proud of the job we’ve done covering the many aspects of the outbreak, which I feel has reached the level of being a public service.

An enterprise story I poured a lot of effort into was a two-part report on the Arkansas Department of Education’s Alternative Methods of Instruction program (AMI), which was originally intended to be a short-term solution for students during situations like snow days. But with schools closed, the program was expanded in a unique way that involved Arkansas PBS broadcasting five hours of programming a day with the state’s five most recently-named teachers of the year hosting some of the segments.

AUDIO: Hear both reports on the AMI program, broadcast on May 4 and May 5, 2020.

I interviewed five people involved in creating the AMI program and got outside opinions on its effectiveness from two people in higher education. I was pleased that several education groups posted and discussed the story on social media. Also, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting shared a link on its Twitter feed.

Because it’s still not considered safe to bring large crowds together, traditional high school and college graduation ceremonies had to be cancelled, postponed or moved online. One extreme disappointment for me was that I had been invited to give a graduation speech last week to the Little Rock School District’s Accelerated Learning Center. It was created in 1998 as an alternative school for students considered at risk of dropping out.

It’s located at the Metropolitan Career and Technical Center, which 32 years ago was where I took a radio broadcasting class while a junior in high school. It was taught by Bob Gay, a veteran broadcaster who instilled exactly how radio stations operated and very effectively prepared me for a career in broadcasting.

An invitation to be the ACC graduation speaker on May 12, 2019, which unfortunately was cancelled because of the pandemic.

While later college courses refined my skills, especially about journalism, I still feel like I got more real-world knowledge from that class. It enabled me to get my first radio job six months into the class and begin getting some experience.

I was proud to have been asked to speak at the graduation, but the May 12 event was cancelled. Maybe I’ll get the chance to deliver a speech next year.

Part of what was important to me is a past connection between the school and where I work today. When the school district was planning the vocational high school, the decision was made to include an FM station to train students in broadcasting. According to Wikipedia, KLRE-FM 90.5 hit the air in February 1973. For the first several years it was a mostly student-run station, on the air from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

In 1977, the Friends of KLRE was formed to provide additional support and help make it a more serious operation, which would broadcast from early mornings until late at night, including classical music and fine arts programming.

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock had wanted to create a public radio station to air NPR programming, but lost a fight with the community activist group ACORN for the FM frequency 88.3. So UALR approached the school district about partnering in the operations of KLRE. In 1983, the station was allowed to increase its power to the current 40,000 watts and soon added NPR programming.

The university eventually succeeded in getting its own station, with KUAR-FM 89.1 hitting the air on Sept. 16, 1986. Both simulcasted for a while until KUAR became primarily a news and jazz station and KLRE was all classical. By the time I started my high school radio class at Metropolitan in August 1988, the stations were operated out of Stabler Hall at UALR. The former KLRE studios were used for my class.

I would have enjoyed returning to the place where public broadcasting in Little Rock began and speaking with the students. I had made some notes about points I wanted get across about pursing their interests and goals in life, but never drafted a speech as it was looking unlikely the graduation ceremony would be held. But maybe this pandemic won’t have society quite as locked down at this time next year and I’ll get an invitation to speak again.

KUAR Wins Best Radio Station Award

by | Jun 30, 2019 | About Me

KUAR Station Manager Nathan Vandiver, anchor/ reporter Daniel Breen, anchor/ reporter Sarah Kellogg, Arts & Letters host J. Bradley Minnick, News Director Michael Hibblen and Development Director Vanessa McKuin.

As news director, I’m proud to say KUAR won the Arkansas Times‘ 2019 readers survey for Best Radio Station. We picked up the award at a ceremony on Thursday, June 27 at the Albert Pike Masonic Center in Little Rock.

We’ve won or been the runner up plenty of times over the years and it’s always gratifying. Readers of the monthly magazine are surveyed on over a hundred categories. The University of Arkansas at Little Rock, which operates KUAR and KLRE, touted our win in this post.

Named a Fellow to CPB, Arizona State University Cronkite School of Journalism Initiative

by | Mar 12, 2019 | About Me

I’m very proud and excited to share that I’m one of 53 public broadcasting newsroom leaders selected to take part in an intensive 100-day training program paid for entirely by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The Editorial Integrity and Leadership Initiative is being held at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

It will be a great opportunity to hone my skills. I’ll fly out to Arizona as part of the second group in August, spending a week there, then work remotely each day with a coach before returning to ASU for a wrap up in January. From the description: “It is 8 total days of customized intensive training at Cronkite and 3 months working 1:1 with a personal coach (industry leader). The goal is to take strong journalists and make them great leaders who can guide public media into the future.” You can read more on this CPB press release.