Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

What Arkansas Democrat-Gazette does

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. is a privately held newspaper company founded in 1819 and headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, operating Arkansas's largest and most comprehensive local news publication under the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette brand (with the NWA Democrat-Gazette sub-brand serving Northwest Arkansas). The publication serves Arkansas residents seeking local and state-level coverage including politics, crime, education, business, sports (notably the Arkansas Razorbacks), opinion, and obituaries, with a primary customer segment defined by Arkansas geography. Its product surface spans a digital subscription offering on arkansasonline.com, a print edition with circulation of nearly 44,000 paid subscribers, a digital replica edition, multiple branded podcasts, curated email newsletters and SMS updates, a YouTube channel, a Community Journalism Project (funded stories and donation campaign), classifieds marketplace, and themed special publications and events.

The company's revenue model is built around recurring paid print and digital subscriptions (with a promotional $1-for-8-weeks digital acquisition offer), supplemented by residual print advertising (which has collapsed more than 80% since 2004), classifieds, special publication sponsorships, and a newer community journalism donation stream that has raised approximately $340,000 since late 2024. Paid subscriptions grew 62% in 2023 and an additional 16% in 2025 under publisher Eliza Hussman Gaines, indicating a partial recovery from a trough of 25,414 toward nearly 44,000. The underlying technology stack is a standard newspaper publishing platform with digital subscription infrastructure rather than any disclosed proprietary AI/ML capability. In June 2026 the company joined 34 other newspaper publishers in a copyright lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI over alleged unauthorized scraping of news content for AI training, representing a defensive legal posture against AI-driven content commoditization rather than an offensive AI strategy.

Name

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Legal name

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.

Website

https://arkansasonline.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1819

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is a privately held regional newspaper founded in 1819, publishing local and state news, politics, sports, and community journalism to Arkansas residents via print, digital subscriptions, podcasts, and newsletters under a paid subscription model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (51311)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital) (MPAJADAB)

Keywords

• Local newspaper publishing
• Digital news subscription
• Print journalism
• Community news media
• Arkansas news coverage

Headquarters

HQ city

Arkansas City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Print and Digital Subscriptions: Primary revenue from paid subscriptions; print circulation has declined dramatically from 189,000 in 2006 to approximately 44,000 currently, though showing recovery with 62% growth in 2023 and 16% in 2025.
2. Print Advertising: Traditional print advertising revenue, which has collapsed more than 80% since 2004 as tech giants captured digital ad markets.
3. Community Journalism Donations: Community journalism donation campaign raising $340,000 since late 2024 to support local news coverage.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette publishes a daily local newspaper serving Arkansas readers across print and digital channels. Its core product is paid access to original Arkansas-focused journalism covering state politics, local news, sports (including Arkansas Razorbacks coverage), business, opinion, and obituaries, distributed via a digital subscription on arkansasonline.com and a print edition delivered to subscribers.

Product overview

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette operates as a single unified newspaper product with multiple digital delivery formats and supplementary content modules. The core offering is the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper available via paid digital subscription on arkansasonline.com, supplemented by podcasts (Small Town Girl, Southern Fried, etc.), curated email newsletters, digital replica editions, a community journalism donation program, classifieds marketplace, special publications, and puzzles. The company also sponsors community initiatives like the America250 historical coverage project and Funded Stories through its Community Journalism Project.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Online Edition
• Digital Subscription Service
• Print Newspaper Subscription
• Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Podcasts
• Classifieds and Online Marketplace
• Special Publications and Events
• Email Newsletter Subscriptions
• America250 Coverage

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• 34 Other Newspaper Publishers (Lawsuit Co-Plaintiff)minorOthers · 24 June 2026Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is one of 35 local and regional newspaper publishers that filed a copyright lawsuit on June 24, 2026, in the Southern District of New York against Microsoft and OpenAI, alleging unauthorized content scraping for AI training.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• The Indianapolis Star: Gannett-owned regional newspaper with subscription model and broad local coverage including politics, sports, and community news. Similar mid-size market positioning and digital transition challenges.
• The Tennessean: Regional daily newspaper serving Tennessee with similar print/digital subscription structure and local/state politics coverage. Part of Gannett network but operates as a regional brand comparable in scope.
• Tulsa World: Oklahoma-based regional newspaper with print and digital subscription model, covering state and local news. Comparable scale and regional newspaper dynamics to Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
• The Des Moines Register: Gannett regional newspaper serving Iowa with subscription-based access and comprehensive state/local coverage. Comparable in scale and as a dominant regional news source in its state.
• NWA Democrat-Gazette: Northwest Arkansas edition of the same company serving a specific regional market within Arkansas. Provides a regional peer comparison point and demonstrates the company's multi-edition approach to serving distinct Arkansas sub-markets.
• The Oklahoman: Regional daily newspaper serving Oklahoma with similar subscription-based business model and coverage of state politics, local news, and sports. Operates in an adjacent Mid-South/Southern regional market with comparable demographics.

Broad incumbents

• Tribune Publishing: Regional newspaper company operating major metropolitan dailies with digital subscription business model. Operates at larger scale but with similar subscription and advertising revenue dynamics.
• Gannett: Largest U.S. newspaper publisher operating USA TODAY and hundreds of local publications. Provides direct competitive overlap in the regional newspaper subscription model but at significantly greater scale and broader geographic reach.
• Lee Enterprises: Major U.S. local newspaper publisher operating dozens of regional dailies with subscription-based digital and print access. Directly comparable business model serving similar small-to-mid market regional newspaper segments.
• The New York Times: National newspaper leader with successful digital subscription model that has demonstrated the path to subscriber-driven profitability. Different scale and geography but serves as the benchmark for newspaper subscription transitions.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/arkansasonline
• Xx.com/arkansasonline
• Facebookfacebook.com/arkansasonline
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/arkansas-democrat-gazette

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Arkansas Democrat-Gazette