John Brummett

Brummett’s career in news began when he was in high school as a part-time reporter for the Arkansas Democrat. He moved to the Arkansas Gazette in 1977. He wrote a political column for the Gazette from 1986 to 1990. He was an editor for Arkansas Times from 1990 to 1992. In 1994, his book, High Wire: From the Back Roads to the Beltway, the Education of Bill Clinton, was published by Hyperion of New York City. He became a columnist with the Democrat-Gazette in 1994. In 2000, he signed a deal with Donrey Media Group, now known as Stephens Media, and wrote for them for 11 years. He rejoined Arkansas Democrat-Gazette as a columnist on Oct. 24, 2011.
You can read his blog at: http://brummett.arkansasonline.com/

Recent stories by John Brummett

OPINION | JOHN BRUMMETT: Hogs basking in the glow It's a lucky man--and he should appreciate it, and does--when the thing he is frittering his time on is the story of the week in Arkansas, thus worthy of being his work at least for a day.I suspec... March 22, 2023

OPINION | JOHN BRUMMETT: Well, math is hard Gov. Sarah Sanders' education bill now law set a minimum teacher salary of $50,000 and ordered $2,000 raises for teachers already above $50,000. It vowed to provide state money to school districts... March 21, 2023

A frightful case study State Rep. DeAnn Vaught, Republican of Horatio in southwest Arkansas generally respected for hard work to aid rural Arkansas, got all broken-out in gumption Wednesday.It was as if she'd had all sh... March 19, 2023

OPINION | JOHN BRUMMETT: Free market? What’s that? It wasn't the atrocity of the day. It didn't even make the front page.What adorned the top right corner of Page One was another of those laws about relieving yourself in the assigned bathroom ... March 16, 2023

Here, regnat politicians State Rep. David Ray of Maumelle filed seven bills Friday in a major offensive for politicians against the people. He should package them as "power to the politicians, right on."If I didn... March 15, 2023

OPINION | JOHN BRUMMETT: Generational chagrin It was an Arkansas liberals' gathering of people about the age of the president. Thus they were few and not so spry.Much of the conversation was whether "they" had overplayed their hand.... March 14, 2023

Leaning toward litigation? On Wednesday Gov. Sarah Sanders gathered another all-white group around her as she signed that big school bill that conceivably could redistribute pupil attendance in a racially segregating way.It als... March 12, 2023

OPINION | JOHN BRUMMETT: Archers at the ready Arkansas is in legislative hell and presidential politics is warming up, so the time seems right to pull out the arrows of ever-fickle conventional wisdom.⬆ Gov. Sarah Sanders--I'm in troubl... March 9, 2023

OPINION | JOHN BRUMMETT: Lessons in loyalty All we can know for sure is that Donald Trump and Sarah Sanders deserve each other.They seem somehow less than ideal characters for a sober contemplation of the moral obligations of the concept of loy... March 8, 2023

OPINION | JOHN BRUMMETT: Asa thinking on 2024 We have a sighting of Asa Hutchinson, the first since a storm of national conservative talking points wiped out his legacy in Arkansas.If you'll remember, he left the governorship in January--whic... March 7, 2023