Clyde E. Palmer by Lawrence J. Bracken

Author:Lawrence J. Bracken [Bracken, Lawrence J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, United States, State & Local, South (AL; AR; FL; GA; KY; LA; MS; NC; SC; TN; VA; WV), Business & Economics, Industries, Media & Communications
ISBN: 9781469665986
Google: 284qEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Published: 2021-06-01T03:32:30+00:00

CHAPTER 4

Clyde Palmer, the Man

Palmer as a Force in Arkansas Newspaper Publishing

Clyde Palmer was a dominant force in Arkansas journalism for almost half a century. His presence was felt not only in the number of newspapers sold by the Palmer Group or the number of radio or television stations Palmer owned, but also in the character of the man. Chapter 1 of this book chronicled Palmer’s entry into Arkansas journalism, and chapter 2 presented the growth of the Palmer Group, as his combined communications endeavors were called. Chapter 3 outlined the development and impact of the Palmer Circuit, his innovative teletypesetting circuit. This chapter explores the character and nature of Clyde Eber Palmer as a personality within Arkansas and presents the side of the man seen by those who knew him, not those who read his newspapers. The circulation of his newspapers was an important factor in his prominence, but circulation figures do not reveal everything about his particular kind of journalism.

While no single newspaper of Clyde Palmer’s ever challenged the statewide circulation of the Arkansas Gazette, the total combined circulation of Palmer’s papers in the late 1940s approached the circulation totals of the Gazette. Palmer’s newspapers dominated Garland, Union, Miller, Hempstead, Ouachita, Columbia, and Arkansas counties in southwest Arkansas. According to former associates, Palmer disliked Little Rock and its leading newspaper, the Arkansas Gazette.1 John Wells, the city editor of the Arkansas Gazette in the early 1930s, first met Palmer through a disagreement between the publisher and Little Rock’s leading newspaper. “Palmer came in to complain that the Gazette was holding Associated Press stories,” Wells said, “which they were supposed to give by carbon to AP. Palmer claimed that the Gazette was not releasing stories in a timely fashion.”2 Palmer wanted quicker access to the Associated Press stories for his newspapers.

In the early 1930s, the Arkansas Gazette publishers were probably not overly concerned with Palmer’s newspapers, since he was only beginning his newspaper chain in that period. By 1947, however, Palmer’s growing newspaper chain had a combined daily circulation of 60,945, with an additional 3,943 in weekly newspaper circulation, for a total of 64,888. The Arkansas Gazette reported a statewide daily circulation of 87,709. Palmer’s papers served a combined county population of 242,179 residents and a combined city population of 92,472. Of the thirty-three daily newspapers published in the state in 1947, Palmer owned all or part of ten, almost one-third. Newspapers belonging to the Palmer Group included the only daily newspapers in Ouachita, Union, Hempstead, Garland, Columbia, Arkansas, and Miller counties. Of the 319,467 daily newspapers distributed in the state in 1947, Palmer’s combined sales accounted for almost one-fifth of that total.3 Palmer’s total increased in the early 1950s when he added several other newspapers (the Russellville Courier Democrat, the Hope Journal, the Columbia County Journal, and the Huttig News) to his group. Circulation of this magnitude helped give Palmer a place of prominence in Arkansas journalism.

The impact of Clyde Palmer and his family, including Walter Hussman and Walter Hussman Jr.

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