News veteran Michael Hibblen is joining Newsroom Ventures LLC as managing editor. He has more than 30 years of experience as a reporter, editor and manager at newspapers, radio and TV stations in Arkansas, Virginia and Florida.

Newsroom Ventures is the parent company for The England Democrat, The Grand Prairie Herald, The Waldron News, The Fordyce News Advocate, The Glenwood Herald, and most recently, The Pine Bluff Commercial.

In addition to assisting company-wide, Hibblen will be the editor of The Glenwood Herald and the managing editor of The Grand Prairie Herald. He will also write stories for all of the newspapers and be a contributing writer for Talk Business & Politics.

“I’ve known Michael for many years and I value his friendship as much as I do his news reporting, editing skills and attention to detail. He will be a great asset to our collection of newspapers, websites and social media platforms,” said Roby Brock, Newsroom Ventures CEO.

A native of North Little Rock, Hibblen started his career while in high school working as a DJ at radio stations KBBA-AM 690 in Benton and KLRA-FM 96.5 in England. While attending Arkansas State University, he worked for KDXY-FM 104.9 in Paragould and KJBR-FM 101.9 in Jonesboro. After a 1993 internship at C-SPAN in Washington, DC, he transitioned to news, working as an anchor and reporter for radio stations KARN, Newsradio 920 in Little Rock, WRVA-AM 1140 in Richmond and WIOD, Newsradio 610 in Miami.

In 2000, he became a nationally-heard Miami-based radio reporter for CBS News covering major stories throughout Florida and the Bahamas. Hibblen was hired by the Miami Herald in 2003 when the newspaper partnered with NPR station WLRN-FM 91.3 to provide local news. Hibblen initially worked as a morning news anchor and reporter, later became the department’s editor, then Assistant News Director. He also frequently wrote news and feature articles for the newspaper.

Hibblen returned home to Arkansas in 2009 to work for UA Little Rock’s NPR station KUAR-FM 89.1 and became its News Director in 2012. While working for the university, he resumed taking classes to earn his Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communication, graduating in May 2013.

During his time at KUAR, Hibblen became a regular panelist and fill-in host on the public television program “Arkansas Week.” He eventually went to work for Arkansas PBS at the start of 2023 as its Director of Public Affairs, which included overseeing production of the program and other state news-related programming and online streaming.

“At a time when local news is contracting nationally, I’m proud to be part of this new Arkansas-based company that has acquired six newspapers with long histories of serving their communities. I love sharing the stories of Arkansans and look forward to reporting the stories that impact their lives,” Hibblen said.

Hibblen enjoys researching broadcasting and railroad history and is the author of the book “Rock Island Railroad in Arkansas,” which was published by Arcadia Publishing in 2017. He has also been involved in the preservation of the railroad’s depot in Perry, Ark., which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021. He maintains a personal website with details on his career and other interests at: hibblenradio.com.