Alan Leveritt, 69
Publisher, Arkansas Times, Little Rock, AR First journalism job: Publisher of Essence, a bi-weekly independent high school newspaper I started while in high school. What are some of the most important lessons you have learned working in the news industry?
No matter how bad things are, don’t walk out the door. Call someone and continue to call people until you determine how to fix the crisis. When I had some early, moderate success, I came to think I/we were bulletproof. We weren’t. A measure of success is how you respond to failure. If you start publications, eventually, one of them will fail.
You must be ready emotionally and financially to advance and not let the defeat, defeat you. What are your predictions for the future of news publishing?
I have no idea. A big part of my job description is how to rebuild a shattered business model. We launched an alt-city magazine during 1974 with paid circulation and dependent wholly on advertising. Today, we circulate the monthly print magazine for free, charge 2,900 online subscribers $110 a year for complete access, sell advertising on both the Website and print and host seven significant events annually with ticket sales and sponsorships. I joke we are becoming an event company that publishes a magazine though that is not entirely true. To say we have evolved during the past 47 years is an understatement. Today, we focus on Arkansas politics, personalities, culture, food, arts and music. We have become the voice of the blue community in a red state which is what excites me every morning. It drives our online subscriptions and gives us a very clear identity and reason for being in the community. Much of that voice comes from Senior Editor Max Brantley, who writes The Arkansas Blog on our Website and accounts for almost half of our traffic.