Little Rock paper folds business weekly into Sunday paper

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is folding its weekly business newspaper, Northwest Arkansas Business Matters, into the Sunday newspaper, according to a story by Mark Hengel of the rival Northwest Arkansas Business Journal.

Hengel writes, “The final publication date will be Aug. 31, and an expanded Sunday business section of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette will include the content that appears in Business Matters, according to an article published Thursday in the daily newspaper’s northwest Arkansas edition.

“‘Most of the content that currently appears in Business Matters, including data and cover of local businesses and industry, will move to an expanded Sunday business news section of the paper, Jeff Jeffus, vice president and general manager of northwest Arkansas operations for the Democrat-Gazette, said in a statement,’ the article said.

“Jeffus did not return a phone call for comment Thursday morning.

“The article did not cite a reason for abandoning the section. Last week, the Democrat-Gazette announced it would freeze salaries and hiring for the near future. The paper cited higher fuel and printing costs and noted that advertising revenue had declined.”

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