Daily Siftings Herald (Arkadelphia)

The Daily Siftings Herald was a newspaper based in Arkadelphia (Clark County) that served Clark County and nearby portions of Hot Spring County.

The Daily Siftings Herald began operations in 1920 after two newspapers consolidated. The Arkadelphia Signal began publication in 1881 under the ownership of J. W. Miller, J. N. Miller, and Isom Langley. The name of the Signal changed to the Arkadelphia Clipper in 1882 and then to the Arkadelphia Herald in 1888. The Siftings began publication in 1891 under the ownership of brothers Edward and Claude McCorkle. Claude moved to Hope (Hempstead County), where he bought the Hope Star newspaper, while Edward remained in Arkadelphia to operate the Siftings. Edward died in 1918, and his son Philip McCorkle Sr. took control as the editor. He bought the Herald in 1918 and named the new newspaper the Arkadelphia Siftings Herald. In 1920, McCorkle changed the newspaper to a daily, which was published in the afternoon every day of the week except Sunday. The newspaper adopted the name Daily Siftings Herald at that time, and the Saturday edition was dropped in 1941, a format that the publication continued from that point forward.

Numerous newspapers had served Arkadelphia and Clark County over the years. The main competitor of the Daily Siftings Herald was a weekly, the Southern Standard, founded in 1868. The Arkadelphia Daily News was founded in 1922 but failed the same year, so the Daily Siftings Herald became the only daily newspaper in operation in Arkadelphia.

Philip McCorkle Sr. was joined at the newspaper by his son, Philip McCorkle Jr. The McCorkles also operated an office supply company in the same building as the newspaper. Philip Jr. died in 1957, and the family sold the newspaper to the Arkadelphia Publishing Company, which also owned the Pine Bluff Commercial.

The offices of newspaper were located at 917 South 6^th Street in Arkadelphia and burned in 1930. The offices were rebuilt in the same location, and the newspaper began to incorporate photographs, maps, and graphs in 1931. In 1970, the newspaper began to use offset printing. In 1980, the Daily Siftings Herald moved to 26^th Street and adopted a computerized system for printing. Sonja Clinesmith became the first female editor in 1985.

In 1987, the newspaper was purchased by the Donrey Media Group. Gatehouse Media purchased it in 2005. The Arkadelphia location served as a design hub for several other newspapers published in the state, including the Hope Star, the Nevada County Picayune-Times, and the Stuttgart Daily Leader. In September 2018, Gatehouse Media closed the newspaper.

For additional information:
Daily Siftings Herald. http://www.siftingsherald.com/ (accessed September 15, 2020).

Richter, Wendy, et al. Clark County Arkansas: Past and Present. Arkadelphia, AR: Clark County Historical Association, 1992.

David Sesser
Henderson State University