Stories by Mike Masterson

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: FOIA victory Score another significant victory for our Freedom of Information Act thanks to a ruling from Washington County Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay. Ila Campbell of Fayetteville and her attorneys Joey McCutche... September 14, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Gandhi's wisdom The late Indian Hindu leader and political figure Mahatma Gandhi, assassinated by a religious zealot during a prayer meeting in 1948, speaks to our nation today through his admonition penned in 1925, ... September 12, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Why do we live? Ever pause amid the endless stream of days, weeks and months that fly past like March breezes to ask why you are even here? Why are we conscious for a brief period? What, if anything, does your spiri... September 11, 2021

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: The beat goes on The discordant beat at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's Bowen School of Law in Little Rock unfortunately continues. Two UALR law professors who questioned the way an endowed professorship ... September 7, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Character matters Imagine the pride and joy a graduating high school senior might feel to learn they are among only 8 percent of applicants accepted to attend the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. The brutal proces... September 5, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: First Amendment reporting During my first job out of UCA as the 22-year-old editor of the Newport Daily Independent, I was naïve and idealistic enough to believe a community newspaper should be willing to truthfully and f... September 4, 2021

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Led me home Editor's note: The original version of this column appeared in April. During a coast-to-coast career in cities ranging from San Diego to Phoenix, Chicago, Ohio and New Jersey, I often pined for the c... August 31, 2021

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Teacher resigns What happens when public school teachers refuse to join in the effort to indoctrinate public school students with a divisive racially oriented ideology rather than focusing on the traditional basics o... August 29, 2021

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Unpeaceful, uneasy feeling In light of our nation's botched pullout from Afghanistan after 20 years (and despite President Joe Biden announcing the pullout with over four months to prepare for it), I chose to share this version... August 28, 2021

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: 'Baptism' scandal The revolting practice where some Huntsville Junior High basketball players performed sexually abusive locker-room "baptisms" that prompted a Title IX investigation has claimed a different victim. Ba... August 24, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Inmate's appeal I regularly receive messages from valued readers wanting to pass along column ideas and offer comments. Occasionally they arrive from prisoners within the Arkansas Department of Corrections. One hand... August 22, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: For common sense I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I consider myself far from it. I am, however, a "things-are-far-out-of-sync-and-not adding-up" theorist who, like many adult Americans with common sense, can easily rec... August 21, 2021

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Demise of shame Imagine the people who believe such things and who are not ashamed to ignore, totally, all the patient findings of thinking minds through all the centuries since the Bible was written. And it is these... August 17, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Journey to forget My late friend Bud Walsh from Harrison, a man whose opinion I respected, once told me after reading a column about a blunder I owned: "You know Mike, I don't believe I'd have told that on myself." We... August 15, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Seeking truth in covid mess If you're anything like me, you've probably endured enough contradictory covid-19 news and flagrant hypocrisy from elected officials to last several lifetimes, so I'll keep the following relevant deta... August 14, 2021

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Less isn't more When does less appear more than it is? Answer: Throughout much of America's commerce today. At least that's what I've been learning as inflation and the effects of covid inflate the price of virtuall... August 10, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: A messy fight The Huntsville School District Title IX scandal at the city's junior high and high schools has become even messier since Fort Smith attorney Joey "Bulldog" McCutchen filed a lawsuit alleging the distr... August 8, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Wrath of the wasps She certainly didn't set out to be swarmed by a squadron of wasps. As with most such attacks, it happened from out of the blue. In an instant, Jeanetta was running in terror from the toxic insects wh... August 7, 2021

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Ignore downers This life experience we share is filled with ups and downs of every shape and form. Such fluctuations go with the territory of steadily hiking through the meadows and briars. That said, perhaps, like... August 3, 2021

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Death of respect The demise of mutual respect continues spreading across this nation that once prized the invaluable quality as highly as it did integrity, honesty and the reliability of one's character. That matters.... August 1, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Androids in our future (Note: The original version of this column appeared in 2019. The topic has only become more relevant since then). Consider how technology has changed our lives in only a few decades. Online streaming... July 31, 2021

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Free to question Surely by now, everyone has noticed those in today's America who seek to further divide us to enhance their own political power and erase our constitutional right to express legitimate doubts and ques... July 27, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Popularity soars Thinking about teaching your children at home? Join the crowd. The mainstream popularity of homeschooling, largely fueled by covid disruption, growing parental concerns over politicized public school... July 25, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Objectivity unattainable? It is telling and concerning that some faculty members with the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill would have problems with the word "objectivity... July 24, 2021

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: 'Baptism' scandal Good folks in Huntsville remain angry over the way their school board failed to uphold suggested punishments for five male students involved in sexually harassing junior high athletes in their locker ... July 20, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: A judge, finally Fort Smith attorney Joey McCutchen, his law partner Chip Sexton and UALR law professor Robert Steinbuch had the darnedest time trying to find a circuit judge to hear the Freedom of Information Act cas... July 18, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Life with Benji When last we left discussions of our 12-pound rescue, Benji was in the process of methodically claiming every room of our house as his own. After 15 months together, he's also incorporated our daily r... July 17, 2021

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: All in the name The controversy over quietly renaming an endowed professorship to honor Bill Clinton at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's Bowen Law School has provided fodder for legal blogs and now prompte... July 13, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Snake-bite savior It was a summer's afternoon more than a decade ago; 22-year-old Frankie McCroskey had grabbed his spinning rod and headed for a stream south of Springfield where he planned to enjoy tranquil hours wad... July 11, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: The world's doormat When I embraced journalism as my chosen career, the lessons repeatedly drilled into my skull involved the need for fairness, objectivity, context, perspective and disclosing truth (as best as could be... July 10, 2021

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Checker, please Attention Walmart shoppers, I believe I've experienced the future for the retail behemoth's customers. I also predict there are those who won't be all that excited. In fact, a tongue-in-cheek social ... July 6, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Seeing greens Those atop the pyramid at North Arkansas College have planted two programs destined to blossom in coming years into professionally maintained golf courses and manicured recreational fields. I realize... July 4, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Clarifying a clarification All too often in life, things aren't as simple to explain as some would have us (or themselves want to) believe, especially in our highly partisan 2021 America. Take, for instance, the brief clarific... July 3, 2021

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Honoring vets The sky was robin’s egg blue peppered with pearl clouds when Sarah Huckabee Sanders breezed in and out of Harrison last week. She’d been invited by veterans groups to address and meet the community’s ... June 29, 2021

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Tee time Watching the U.S. Open played last weekend at Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, Calif., carried me back to 1980 when I and three fellow Los Angeles Times reporters played there. Our problem was n... June 27, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Flap over 'Clinton' change In 1999 the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's Bowen Law School established an endowed professorship called the "Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy." It's since been available for a... June 26, 2021

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Ugly in Huntsville News out of Huntsville ought to make every parent of a junior-high male athlete cringe in disbelief. My son is 50 years old and it made me wince. Two junior high players admitted to performing so-cal... June 22, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Igniting reform I believe, more than ever in this troubled nation, that stories of good works--particularly by the emerging generation--should be hoisted high into the light of public awareness in hopes their deeds w... June 20, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: 'Rendezvous with destiny' Here's an abridged version of President Ronald Reagan's 1964 televised speech, "A Time for Choosing." I felt today's readers and their offspring might find relevance in what our yet-to-be president sa... June 19, 2021

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: For transparency Lock away the computers and hide your pets, city fathers. Fort Smith's bulldog barrister Joey McCutchen is back in search of transparency. This time he's filed not one suit, mind you, but two against... June 15, 2021

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Nothing to fear I'm assuming you have one, and probably your kids, too. After all, don't we all have a cell phone by now? My friend Danny Timbrook reminded me the other day that those who fear taking the vaccine to ... June 13, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Controversy vs. core values Should society continue to embrace traditional journalistic values of objectivity, accuracy and fairness, as described in the Statement of Core Values published daily in this newspaper (and 10 others ... June 12, 2021

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Exploring death We published a story the other day by Ruth Graham of The New York Times in which she quoted Sister Theresa Aletheia Noble's view of death as an opportunity to reflect on our limited lives. Headlined ... June 8, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Banking on gold It's been said that some folks' misfortune can be the risk-taking entrepreneur's gain. John Bloemeke and Jeremy McMinn are busy proving that adage with their emerging Golden Ticket movie theater chain... June 6, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Filming in Harrison My hometown of Harrison has been abuzz of late as a production company began filming the faith-based movie "Running the Bases." It's not often a film crew shows up in this community of 13,000 to fuel... June 5, 2021

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Lunker of a day Ihave always nurtured a passion for fishing, usually wading a creek or river, sometimes in a lake. There is something about watching the monofilament tighten, setting the hook, and reeling in a large ... June 1, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Fun and friends After decades of swinging golf clubs in untold tournaments, I thought I'd experienced every format. After all, there have been the scrambles, shambles, four-balls, individual stroke and match play, co... May 30, 2021

OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: State can do better I thought you might find it as unfortunate yet interesting as I do that our state unfortunately fared poorly when compared with the others in personal finance website WalletHub's latest report and its... May 29, 2021

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Drawing a line It's reassuring to see a governor stand behind law enforcement and the laws of his state when it comes to cracking down on those who enter his state with plans to criminally riot, loot, burn and harm ... May 25, 2021

OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: A tree in time Kenneth Hubbard Jr., O.D., a widely respected optometrist with Harrison's Heartland Eye Clinic, flicked off the overhead lights and flashed another at close range into my eyes. He was searching for po... May 23, 2021