Ron Breeding, a veteran radio journalist who established an award-winning news operation at the public radio station at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, has died. He was 54.
Breeding was found dead in bed Thursday at his home in the Capitol View area by a neighbor who went to check on him, Pulaski County Coroner Gerone Hobbs said Friday. Breeding had health problems, including hypertension, that likely contributed to his death, Hobbs said.
"He was an icon for radio news and was one of the few left from the earlier generation," said Michael Hibblen, who succeeded Breeding as news director at radio station KUAR-FM, 89.1.
Hibblen was among the younger generation of radio journalists whose careers Breeding nurtured as news and programming director at KUAR from 200-2012 and for much of the 18 years before at Little Rock radio station KARN-AM, 920.
"He gave me my first news job," Hibblen said of his start at KARN. "I owe him a lot."
Ben Fry, KUAR's general manager, said Breeding impressed him with his ability to take a succession of people with little or no experience and within a couple of days have them producing news reports with enough quality to air.
"He was so good at training people to take an interview, break it down and put it back together into a quality news report," Fry said.
The KUAR news operation was a modest one before Breeding's arrival, doing little more than "reading [The Associated Press] wire copy verbatim," Hibblen said.
Breeding transformed it into a fully functioning newsroom with a mixture of full-time and part-time reporters who covered breaking news as well as developed in-depth stories.
Under Breeding's guidance, the KUAR newsroom was named four times as the Sweepstakes Winner by the Arkansas Associated Press Broadcasters Association.
The station news operation garnered dozens of other awards over the years for Breeding and his news team from The Associated Press, the Society of Professional Journalists and Public Radio News Directors.
In addition to expanding local news coverage on KUAR, the station also spawned several cultural programs under Breeding's leadership, including Arkansongs, The Arkansas Flyer and Arkansas Cooks.
Before arriving at KUAR, Breeding honed his craft at KARN and the Arkansas Radio Network, becoming a fixture at state Capitol news conferences and many other news events. He also was a regular panelist on Arkansas Week, a weekly public television program that offers analysis of the previous week's news.
"Everyone knew Ron," said Steve Barnes, a veteran television news personality who is the host of Arkansas Week. "Everyone regarded Ron as a true professional. He had smarts and savvy and a lot of hustle.
"He could be in more places in a half day than most people could be in two. I think he was one of those people who thrived on deadlines."
Metro on 06/14/2014