Arkansas papers to combine Sunday biz sections

Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC will combine Sunday business sections, the company announced Friday. Staff changes are also in progress.

A story on the Arkansas Democrat Gazette’s website states, “The Northwest Arkansas Times, the Springdale Morning News, the Rogers Morning News and the Benton County Daily Record will stop publishing a Sunday business section starting Sept. 9, said Rusty Turner, editor and publisher of the company. Business stories and briefs packages written and compiled by the local dailies’ staff will appear either in the news sections of those dailies or in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Northwest edition’s business section.

“‘Our goal is to make our operations more efficient without reducing local news content provided to our readers,’ Turner said. ‘In fact, we hope to increase it. By combining some operations with our partners at the Democrat-Gazette Northwest edition and making some internal changes, we’re confident we can accomplish that goal.’

“The company will also combine its design desk with that of the Northwest edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. This department lays out the stories on pages for printing.”

Read more here.