Rex Nelson
You may know Rex Nelson as the preeminent expert on food, politics, and anything else related to Arkansas. Now, those of you who read the state’s largest newspaper will see him as the Senior Editor.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette announced on Sunday that the longtime writer and broadcaster will join their company as Senior Editor, which will also increase his columns in frequency from one day a week, to three.
Nelson is no stranger to most in the state, and has had one of the most versatile careers of any high profile Arkansan out there. As a high school student, he carried jobs at the local radio stations in Arkadelphia, plus the local newspaper. For close to four decades, he has been the play-by-play voice for his college alma mater’s football team, the Ouachita Baptist Tigers, which boasts one of the largest Division Two radio networks in America.
He is also the host of the Farm Bureau Scoreboard Show on the Arkansas Radio Network, which he co-hosted for five seasons with InsideFortSmith.Com owner and publisher Grant Merrill.
But those are just his part-time gigs over the years.
In the 1980’s, he served as the Washington correspondent for the Arkansas Gazette, the editor of Arkansas Business, and even as a sportswriter for both of the state papers at the time. In the 1990’s, he transitioned from journalism to politics, joining the staff of Governor Mike Huckabee as Communications Director. In the early 2000’s, he moved on to accept a Presidential appointment from George W. Bush as Deputy Director of the Delta Regional Authority. He also served as President of the Arkansas Independent Colleges and Universities, and as a Vice President of Corporate Communications for Simmons Bank.
“Rex has been doing a column for us once a week, and we get a tremendous number of positive comments on his columns. Rex probably knows the area as well as any journalist around today. He’s been around for many, many years — he travels all over the state,” said Democrat-Gazette Publisher Walter Hussman in the announcement over the weekend. “As a statewide newspaper, we think his column is going to give us the kind of unique content that people can’t get anywhere else.”
According to the Democrat-Gazette, Nelson will travel the state looking for unique stories to tell, while meeting a number of speaking engagements on an annual basis.
