Veteran Local Journalist Receives Ernie Deane Award

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Brenda Blagg, left, accepts the Ernie Deane Award from Fran Alexander, Ernie Deane's daughter.(photo courtesty Andy Schupe/Northwest Arkansas Times)

Brenda Blagg, a former Traveler editor, graduate of the Walter J. Lemke Department of Journalism, and award winning journalist has been named recipient of the 18th annual Ernie Deane Award for valor in journalism. Blagg was surprised with the award in a ceremony Oct. 25. The award recognizes Arkansas journalists or writers whose works best exemplify the spirit, style and courage of its namesake.

Ernie Deane, a 1934 University of Arkansas graduate in journalism, served as the information officer for Gen. George Patton during World War II and was the head of public relations with the Office of Chief Counsel for War Crimes at Nuremberg. A journalist with the former Arkansas Gazette for many years, Deane originated the Arkansas Traveler column in 1956 and later taught journalism at the university.

The “Ernie” award was founded by Deane’s former students and colleagues following his death in 1991. Nominations are judged by a committee of professionals who were students of Deane.

Blagg, who was one of Deane’s students, has been covering Northwest Arkansas and the state for more than 40 years. She is regional editor and an opinion writer, producing personal columns and editorials for Northwest Arkansas Media. She serves on the newspaper's editorial board and draws on a long career in newspaper journalism to inform her opinions.

A Newport native, she worked full time for the Arkansas Democrat and the Newport Daily Independent and has freelanced for numerous publications, including the Arkansas Gazette, The National Observer and The New York Times.

She also taught news writing as an adjunct professor at the University of Arkansas.

During her tenure at the Traveler, Hill Hall, where the newspaper was headquartered, burned. Blagg managed to get the paper out anyway, calling on Charlie Sanders of The Springdale News for help. Sanders later hired Blagg to work for the paper, which is now a part of Northwest Arkansas Media.

Blagg is based in Fayetteville and is the newspaper’s regional editor with responsibilities to local papers or editions in Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville. She has been a reporter, columnist,and an editorial writer concentrating on politics, local government and environmental issues. She has also written extensively about state government, covering the Arkansas Legislature.

Blagg is an occasional panelist on AETN's Arkansas Week. Her weekly syndicated column, "Between the Lines," reaches more than 90,000 Arkansas homes. The column arose from a summer 1978 hiatus when she traveled the state for the Arkansas Institute of Politics and Government .

In 2009, she was inducted into the Walter J. Lemke Department of Journalism Hall of Honor. In 2001, she was named Arkansas Journalist of the Year by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Journalism Department.

An advocate for freedom of information throughout her career, Blagg was a founding member of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Coalition She was the assistant coordinator for the FOIArkansas Project, which surveyed compliance with state open-records law in each of the state’s 75 counties. The project won the Arkansas Press Association’s 2000 award for service to FOI and a Katie Award from the Press Club of Dallas as well as recognition from the Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors. The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas, the Little Rock Bureau of Stephens Media and four other Arkansas daily newspapers participated in the project.

Blagg was Arkansas coordinator for Sunshine Week, an annual nationwide recognition of the importance of public access to government information, in 2005 and 2006. She has also served as a member of the board of the Arkansas Press Women and co-chairman of the Freedom of Information Arkansas Project.

In 1987 Blagg received the Arkansas Press Association President’s Award for defending the Freedom of Information Act. She was given the Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors President’s Award in 2005.

Blagg has won hundreds of state and national awards for writing, editing and photography, including sweepstakes awards from the Arkansas Press Women and the National Federation of Press Women. She was for several years the publisher of This Is Arkansas, a biennial magazine of the Arkansas County Judges Association.

The Arkansas Press Women named her Woman of Achievement in 1983 and in 1990, Communicator of Achievement. She also received the Henry Award for media support from the Arkansas Governor’s Conference on Tourism in 1993.

For all her professional work, Blagg may be most well known locally for a character she plays in the Northwest Arkansas Gridiron. Letitia Mae Stufflebeam, and husband Elmer have been staples of the annual show she helps write and perform to raise scholarship money for the Society of Professional Journalists, among others.

Ernie Deane championed many public causes against what he called the “lunacy” of politicians and bureaucrats. One of his most famous crusades was saving Old Main, the historical landmark on the University of Arkansas campus, from demolition. His former students, who are now editors, news directors and public relations professionals across the country, took up the battle cry and rallied to the cause. The building has since been restored and remains a landmark on the campus.