On this episode we're joined by Arielle Robinson. Arielle is a Racial Equity Reporter for the Arkansas Times, for whom she's worked for 9 months. This is part of the Report for America corps program She's previously had internships and freelance roles at CNN, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and a few other outlets. Arielle is a graduate of Kennesaw State University.
What does a racial equity reporter do?
It's basically what it sounds like, but I would say that one thing that people sometimes might get confused about is they think I only cover racial equity in Little Rock.
I'm also trying to expand more across Arkansas to talk across the state. I've tried to connect more with different communities of color in and around Little Rock. And so the Black community here, the Latino community, and even learning more about the Marshallese community. Arkansas has the highest population of Marshallese people (from the Marshall Islands) out of any other state. And so it's just looking at different communities of color and the inequities that still exist in their communities, especially compared to a wider population.
What makes Arkansas so interesting to cover?
I think Arkansas is a very fascinating place. The political and racial dynamics are interesting. For example, Little Rock, the mayor that we have now, he was the first directly elected black mayor, this one we have now directly elected by the population.
I just thought that was fascinating how in 2025, we're still talking about a first Black person elected. You also have the governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who's come like, who is from the famous Huckabee family. You watch how this more conservative governor interacts with a liberal city like Little Rock.
You wrote a story about the honoring of a woman named Daisy Bates, whose home was the command post for the work that went into the integration of schools in Little Rock. What goes into covering a piece with so much history in it?
I really just love history. Journalism has helped me discover myself and what I like. I've gone to the local library. They have fascinating books about racial cleaning in the Ozarks and the history of lynching in Arkansas.
I want to tell or help share stories from people who don't have access to the same resources I would.
You mentioned Governor Sanders. She was at the event honoring Daisy Bates and she said a lot about integration and the integration of her father's church.
She presented herself as someone who believed that all of this was important.
But the end of your story, and I thought was very well done, you stated facts and you showed that Governor Sanders' actions as governor did not match these words (she signed legislation banning the teaching of Critical Race Theory). How did you and your editors determine how that piece would end?
Actually, I thought of it myself. I was standing there and I just felt there was a lot of irony. So I just put those last blurbs in to point out the contradiction … I put a couple things in there to point out and say look for yourself and see what you think.
How has Report for America been helpful with this job?
My regional manager, Cristella Guerra, has just been a gem. She's helped me so much. As a journalist, you're still a human being outside of journalism. She's helped me to navigate personal issues and bosses and helpful ways to think out story ideas. She's someone who understands what you're going through. Her and Priska Neely, I really deeply appreciate because these are lessons that I never learned prior to being in this program.
What kind of journalist do you want to be?
I really enjoy covering different communities of color and racial equity.
There's a lot of history and stories there that perhaps haven't even been recorded or properly recorded. So you get to create history, in a way.
I want to go do more reporting out in the Arkansas Delta. because that's a rural area. It's also where a lot of like Black folks live as they're, the descendants of slaves who were brought out there. I want to learn more about what it's like to be Black and living in a rural area.
I know the circumstances and the context was different, but sometimes I wish they'd bring back like the Federal Writers Project or something like that, like they had under the New Deal. I really like that kind of stuff and just tracking the stories of people who perhaps mainstream media wouldn't think to like talk to, Let's go talk to this person living out in a rural cabin and record their life story or something and share it with others. Go to places that haven't gotten enough attention.
In 2025 we had a new episode each week and featured more than 60 guests. I don’t know that we were the most diverse journalist interviews podcast out there, but we certainly tried to be.
We look forward to bringing you more journalist interviews in 2026 but we can use your help. Tell a friend, a relative, a colleague about us and let them know that our episodes are worth their time.
A reminder to professors and teachers
You can find episode guides that you can use if you wish to integrate the podcast within your classroom. There are more than 50 available. Each one has suggested questions for discussion and activities a class can do.
I’m also happy to help you find an episode that would be appropriate for what you’re teaching. Reach out to me at [email protected].
Additionally, I’ve curated some of the 2025 episodes into groups. If you’re teaching a class or unit in any of these subjects:
- Investigative Journalism
- Feature Writing
- Covering government policy
- Social justice, immigration, and identity
- Local News
Check out the sets of episode guides that would be useful to you. I don’t have a good term for them, so I’m borrowing from Bluesky and calling them “Starter Packs” - sets of 5-8 episodes in each category that may be useful in your classroom.