Walter Edward Hussman Jr. was born on January 5, 1947, in Texarkana, Miller County, Arkansas, and raised in Camden, Arkansas.
Hussman attended high school at The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey. He received a B.A. in journalism from the University of North Carolina and an M.B.A. at Columbia University.
Hussman returned to Arkansas in 1970 to work in the family's newspaper, radio, and television business, which later became WEHCO Media. He managed the Camden News and served as the general manager for Palmer Newspapers in the early 1970s before becoming the CEO of WEHCO. After WEHCO purchased the Arkansas Democrat in 1974, Hussman moved to Little Rock to work as the publisher. In 1991, he managed the Arkansas Democrat purchase of the Arkansas Gazette and renamed the newspaper the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Editor & Publisher magazine named Hussman the Publisher of the Year in 2008. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Associated Press and as chairman of P.A.R.K. Hussman helped found the eStem Public Charter Schools in Little Rock.
#1: Composite image of early photo of Walter E. Hussman Jr. and still frame from Pryor Center video interview
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#2: Walter E. Hussman Sr. (left) and Walter E. Hussman Jr. (right) pushing the button to turn on KCMC-TV; Texarkana, Arkansas, 1953
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#3: Walter E. Hussman Jr. (right) as a boy
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#4: Walter E. Hussman Jr.
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#5: Walter E. Hussman Jr.
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#6: Walter and Ben Hussman wedding photo
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#7: Walter E. Hussman Jr. and and his wife, Ben
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#8: Carolyn Long (left) of KARK-TV, Walter E. Hussman Jr., and his wife, Ben Hussman, at the announcement of the morning edition of the Arkansas Democrat, January 1979
© Arkansas Democrat-Gazette file photo
#9: Walter E. Hussman Jr. (center)
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#10: Walter E. Hussman Jr. (right) interviews Ronald Reagan in Little Rock in 1984
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#11: Walter E. Hussman Jr.
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#12: Walter E. Hussman Jr.
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#13: Walter and Ben Hussman with their son, Palmer Hussman, and twin daughters, Olivia and Eliza Hussman
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#14: Ticket to the 1990 Arkansas Democrat Gala with picture of Walter and Ben Hussman and their son, Palmer Hussman, and twin daughters, Olivia and Eliza Hussman
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#15: Walter E. Hussman Jr. with his daughter
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#16: Walter and Ben Hussman with their son, Palmer Hussman, and twin daughters, Olivia and Eliza Hussman
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#17: Walter E. Hussman Jr. (right) with friend
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#18: Walter E. Hussman Jr.
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#19: Walter E. Hussman Jr. at Bohemian Grove, Monte Rio, California
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#20: Walter E. Hussman Jr. and his wife, Ben
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#21: Walter E. Hussman Jr.
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#22: Walter E. Hussman Jr., publisher of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette; photo by Benjamin Krain, 3/5/08
© Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
#23: Walter E. Hussman Jr. caricature by George Fisher
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#24: Letter to Walter E. Hussman Jr. from Sam Walton, January 15, 1990
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#25: Front page headline of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette announcing Arkansas Gazette closing, October 19, 1991
© Public Domain
#26: Chattanooga Free Press headline announcing purchase of the Chattanooga Times, November 24, 1998
© Public Domain
#27: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center video interview with Walter E. Hussman Jr. at the home of Marilynn and Robert Porter; Little Rock, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#28: Behind-the-scenes photo from Pryor Center video interview with Walter E. Hussman Jr. at the home of Marilynn and Robert Porter; Little Rock, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
#29: Still frame from Pryor Center video interview with Walter E. Hussman Jr. at the home of Marilynn and Robert Porter; Little Rock, Arkansas, 2011
© Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, University of Arkansas
