Rick Kennedy

SWARK Managing Editor & News Directo Richard “Rick” Kennedy is a 34-year news media veteran, most recently as regional editor of both Hope Star and Nevada County Picayune, prior to their closures by Gatehouse Media. Kennedy, 54, has worked in television, radio and newspapers, and his tenures in journalism have taken him across Arkansas as well as throughout the country. In Arkansas, Kennedy served at the Pine Bluff Commercial for three years as the daily’s night desk supervisor and at the weekly Chicot County Spectator in Lake Village as general manager and editor. The winner of 42 media industry awards and certificates, Kennedy was also named as a finalist for the 2004 Business Person of the Year by the Idaho State Journal in recognition of his commentaries and advocacy of economic development in southeastern Idaho. While working as a reporter at the Bastrop Daily Enterprise, Kennedy won the Louisiana Press Association’s Best News Story in 1997 for coverage of a paper mill explosion. While at the Hope Star, Kennedy gained national recognition in 2016 by the SNPA for excellence in news credibility, and a national Best of Gatehouse accolade in July 2018 for local coverage of the Miss Arkansas pageant. Kennedy also made an appearance on NBC News during the 2016 Presidential campaign.