Optimism and appreciation flowed throughout the Clinton Presidential Center's Great Hall during the Arkansas Press Association's 5th annual Press Freedom Gala on Sept. 22.
The Rodney Block Trio played and Ashley Wimberley, executive director of the Arkansas Press Association, mingled and kept things organized as supporters arrived for the dinner.
Mitch Bettis, owner and president of the Arkansas Business Publishing Group, welcomed everyone with a message about how Arkansans might not always agree on every issue but that the state's residents have more commonalities than differences.
Rufus Friday, executive director of the Center for Integrity in News Reporting, called for the celebration of a free press and the right to free speech and reminded of the great responsibility that lies with the media because of those freedoms.
Skip Rutherford, dean emeritus of the Clinton School of Public Service and an Arkansas Newspaper Foundation board member, gave the Distinguished Service Award to Andrew Bagley, owner of The Helena World, The Monroe County Argus and The Marianna Courier-Index.
Rob Roedel, vice president of communications for the Arkansas Farm Bureau and president of the...