Westerman staffer Saylor to exit post

After more than four years in Washington, most of it working for an Arkansas congressman, Ryan Saylor is leaving Capitol Hill and returning to journalism.

Starting Aug. 19, he’ll be working as executive producer of digital content for WFXR-TV, Roanoke, Va.’s FOX affiliate.

The city of 99,920, roughly 240 miles outside of Washington, is nestled among the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Saylor recently married Susan Patrick, a member of the state bar who lives in southwest Virginia.

“I’m looking forward to being in a place that’s not so large and not so busy all the time,” he said in an interview. “I never realized how much of a small-town guy I was until I moved to Washington.”

Shortly after winning a seat in Congress in 2014, U.S. Rep. Westerman, a Republican from Hot Springs, hired Saylor as his communications director.

Given his past work at the Paragould Daily Press, The City Wire in Fort Smith and Little Rock-based Talk Business & Politics, Saylor already knew the state, including the 4th Congressional District, which Westerman represents.

Saylor said he enjoyed his time on Capitol Hill.

Given the stream of Natural State constituents, he never felt that far from home, he added.

The upcoming career change is exciting, he said.

The Roanoke station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which owns stations in Little Rock and Fayetteville, as well as the Texarkana/ Shreveport and El Dorado/ Monroe, La. media markets.

“It’s nice to be able to get back to my roots and return to a career that I loved,” Saylor said.

Planning to visit the nation’s capital? Know something happening in Washington, D.C.? Please contact Frank Lockwood at (202) 662-7690 or flockwood@arkansasonline.com. Want the latest from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s

Washington bureau? It’s available on Twitter, @LockwoodFrank.