Deep South Today names Jordan Hickey editor-in-chief of Arkansas Today
Northwest Arkansas-based journalist Jordan Hickey has been tabbed as the first editor-in-chief of Arkansas Today, a new online news outlet being launched by Deep South Today.
Hickey, 39, graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has worked as a journalist in Arkansas since 2013. Along with bylines that include the Washington Post, Oxford American and Southern Living, Hickey has authored stories for the Arkansas Times about topics ranging from how life has changed in Fayetteville as the area has grown and farming struggles in Northwest Arkansas in the shadow of Walmart to an internet-viral distillery in Newport.
According to a press release from Deep South Today, Hickey brings more than a decade of experience reporting, editing and leading editorial teams across print, digital and audio.
“He will build Arkansas Today’s newsroom from the ground up, with an emphasis on in-depth and investigative reporting, coverage of historically overlooked communities, and partnerships with the state’s existing local newsrooms,” the press release says.
Arkansas Today will be the newest outlet in the Deep South Today network, which is a relatively new nonprofit effort to reinvigorate the media landscape in Southern states where newspapers and other traditional media resources have languished in the digital age. The network includes Mississippi Today, Verite News and The Current, and will soon add Arkansas and eastern Tennessee to the mix.
Hickey sees Arkansas Today as a vehicle to cover stories in parts of the state that don’t always get as much attention.
“When I first moved to Arkansas as a young journalist, I remember marveling at how easy it was to find good stories,” Hickey said. “Only later did I come to realize that this ease was indicative of a more pernicious systemic issue — that so many stories outside existing coverage areas were going untold because there was no one there to hear them. With Arkansas Today, I see an opportunity to address those gaps and to do something good for this place I love.”
Adam Ganucheau, Deep South Today’s executive editor and chief content officer, said Hickey was chosen due to his combination of experience and familiarity with the state, as well as his passion for using journalism to drive change.
“We searched for an editor who knows Arkansans and the challenges facing them, as well as a keen sense of how strong accountability journalism can surface solutions for change,” Ganucheau said. “We’ve got that in Jordan. His connections with so many journalists across the state, his own deep Arkansas reporting and editing experience, and his commitment to the state’s future generations of journalists makes him a perfect fit for this role.”
Deep South Today announced the launch of Arkansas Today in May with a stated goal of expanding in-depth journalism across the state. According to the press release announcing Hickey’s hiring, the publication is in the process of hiring additional staff and reporters and plans to officially launch later this Fall.
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