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Walter Edward Hussman, Jr. (born January 5, 1947), is a third-generation newspaper publisher and chief executive officer of a mass media conglomerate known as WEHCO Media, Inc. He is the publisher of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in Little Rock, the largest newspaper in Arkansas, directs a chain of smaller newspapers, including the Chattanooga Times Free Press and the Texarkana Gazette, and owns cable television companies in four states.

Early years and education
Hussman was born in Texarkana, Texas, but moved in 1949 to Camden, Arkansas, with his parents, Walter E. Hussman, Sr. (1906–1988) and the former Betty Palmer (1911–1990), and two older sisters. Hussman, Sr., published the The Camden News, which he had purchased from his father-in-law, Clyde E. Palmer (1876–1957).

Hussman graduated from the Lawrenceville School in 1964. He earned his bachelor's degree in journalism at the University of North Carolina UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media and his master's of business administration from Columbia University. In 1970, Hussman worked as a reporter for Forbes magazine. Later he became his father's administrative assistant, then general manager of The Camden News. He moved to Hot Springs in 1973 to become vice president and general manager of the Palmer Newspapers, which became a division of WEHCO Media.

A newspaper "war"
In 1974, Hussman left Hot Springs for Little Rock when WEHCO purchased the Arkansas Democrat, the afternoon daily in the state capital. He was named publisher at the age of 27. [citation needed: Hussman implemented a strategy of reducing operating costs and expanding subscriptions within the metropolitan area. Nevertheless, the advertising and circulation trends continued to be unfavorable.]

In late 1978, Hussman offered free want ads—a move which tripled the size of the Democrat's classified section and made it the only Arkansas newspaper to publish more than one million classified advertisements in a single year. Hussman hired reporters, editors, and photographers to enhance local news coverage and named former Associated Press bureau chief John Robert Starr as managing editor. [citation needed: In 1979, the Democrat switched to morning publication, a trend already underway in the industry to compete with The Gazette.]

Readership increased dramatically. Circulation totals showed that in 1980, the Democrat was the fastest growing newspaper in the United States. Innovations continued, including the use of color with offset lithography printing presses. The Democrat's revenues increased from $6.7 million in 1979 to $18.4 million in 1984. The Democrat increased its daily circulation from 53,671 to 76,119. Its Sunday circulation leaped from 98,237 to 140,642 over the same period. Distraught The Gazette management filed a federal antitrust suit, accusing Hussman of trying to put The Gazette out of business. On March 26, 1986, a federal jury exonerated Hussman in a verdict rendered in a Little Rock courtroom.

On December 1, 1986, the Virginia-based Gannett Corporation, the nation's largest newspaper chain, purchased The Gazette from the Heiskell-Patterson family. Within five years the Democrat closed the circulation gap. The Gazette circulation was still substantially larger than that of The Democrat in 1986, but within five years, The Democrat virtually tied The Gazette in daily circulation: 133,753 to 134,027 for The Gazette. On Sundays, The Democrat actually led The Gazette, 241,361 to 225,326.[citation needed]( https://www.arkansasonline.com/tools/newspaperhistorymain/ ) -- look in E&P.

Meanwhile, Gannett suffered increasing financial losses and published the final Gazette on October 18, 1991, just days after then Governor Bill Clinton announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination. Later that day WEHCO purchased all assets of The Gazette, including its subscription list. The new publication was called the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Hussman claimed his company had "survived the greatest competitive onslaught in the newspaper business."

Awards & Honors

 * In 2008, Hussman was named Publisher of the Year by Editor and Publisher, a trade publication.
 * In 2012, Hussman was inducted in the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame.
 * In 2014, Hussman was inducted into the NC Media and Journalism Hall of Fame.

Newspaper philosophy
Hussman sums up his philosophy about newspapers by referring to a statement from his father.

"A newspaper has a number of constituencies. Among those are readers, advertisers, employees, creditors, and stockholders. If a newspaper and its publisher always keep those constituencies in that order: readers first, advertisers second, employees third, creditors fourth, and shareholders last, then the newspaper will do well journalistically and financially, and the interests of all constituencies will be well served."

For years the Democrat was considered the conservative newspaper in Little Rock, compared to the liberal Gazette. In the merger, the conservative viewpoint seemed to emerge triumphant in the combined Democrat-Gazette.

Hussman is a former chairman of the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association. He was instrumental in funding the "Traveling Campus" program, which educated some 7,000 persons during 2002. Through his efforts, more than $4 million was pledged to the SNPA Foundation in 2002. He was the first recipient of the Frank W. Mayborn award in 2004.

In a May 7, 2007Wall Street Journal op-ed column, Hussman urged newspapers to stop providing free content online. Too many potential readers, he said, settle for "limited" online coverage and never consider traditional newspaper subscriptions. Hussman called the online posting of so much of the newspaper product a "self-inflicted wound".

Starting in 2017, the paper lists Hussman's "Core Values" on page 2 of the 10 papers that WEHCO publishes. This statement includes: "Impartiality means reporting, editing and delivering the news honestly, fairly, objectively, and without personal opinion or bias. Credibility is the greatest asset of any news medium, and impartiality is the greatest source of credibility." The full statement of Core Values are available on the paper's website as well.

Hussman School of Journalism & Media at UNC
In 2019, Hussman wrote in the Wall Street Journal that "Journalism schools need to adopt similar statement of core journalistic values." In support of that, Hussman and his family made a $25 million gift to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Hussman School of Journalism and Media. Susan King, dean of the Hussman School, said, "The Hussman family’s passion for journalism is based on unwavering values. Their generosity and vision extend transformational support across all of the media disciplines that we teach and research and serve. Core values are at the root of all we do."

"The School has come a long way in the 50 years since I graduated with a journalism degree," Hussman said. "But what has not changed are those bedrock values, principals and standards of journalism that I learned half a century ago."

Personal Life
Hussman lives in Little Rock with his wife, the former Robena Kendrick (b. June 26, 1946). They have three children. The late federal Judge Richard S. Arnold of Texarkana and Little Rock, was Hussman's former brother-in-law. Arnold was married to Hussman's sister, Gale, from 1958-1975. His other sister is Marilyn Augur of Dallas, Texas.