糖心Vlog传媒

Patel Joins K糖心Vlog传媒R as Political and Government Affairs Reporter

Ronak Patel has joined 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Public Radio as the new political and governmental affairs reporter for , a National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate. His duties include covering Gov. Asa Hutchinson鈥檚 administration as well as the Arkansas General Assembly, members of the state鈥檚 U.S. congressional delegation, local politics, and election coverage. “We’re excited to have Ronak with us,鈥� said Michael Hibblen, news director for K糖心Vlog传媒R. 鈥淗e brings a strong journalism background to K糖心Vlog传媒R and is part of a steady expansion of the staff of the newsroom which will enable us to do even more original reporting. He has good news instincts and is a strong writer.” A graduate of Little Rock Central High School, Patel attended the University of Central of Arkansas (UCA), where he graduated with a major in English and a minor in journalism in 2021. He got interested in journalism while working for UCA鈥檚 student newspaper, the Echo. 鈥淚 saw the student newspaper, the UCA Echo, needed staff writers, and they were open to volunteers who weren鈥檛 journalism majors,鈥� Patel said. 鈥淚 did that my junior year and really enjoyed it. I changed my minor to journalism. During my senior year of college, it was the 2020 election, and I had political reporting. The professor did a great job of talking about politics, and that made me interested in going into political journalism.鈥� As a student, Patel also reported on a state legislator requesting syllabi from UCA, a report that won a second-place award for in-depth reporting from the Arkansas College Media Association. Since graduating, he鈥檚 landed positions at the Southwest Times Record and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Despite his experience in print, Patel has always been a fan of broadcast and figured he would wind up working in broadcast eventually. 鈥淲hile I started off in print, I knew that I would have to venture out of print with the way the industry is changing,鈥� Patel said. 鈥淚 took a broadcast class at UCA, and I was always a fan of NPR. Steve Inkeep of NPR was always one of my favorite political reporters.鈥� Since starting at K糖心Vlog传媒R, Patel said his favorite story has been an , George W. Donaghey Distinguished Professor of History at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, about his new biography, 鈥淲inthrop Rockefeller: From New Yorkers to Arkansawyer, 1912-1956.鈥� 鈥淚鈥檝e always been a big fan of Rockefeller, and I love reading about history,鈥� Patel said. 鈥淕etting to talk to someone who is an expert on what Rockefeller did for the state and who he was as a person is interesting. I think a lot of people forget the impact that Winthrop had on the state, and it鈥檚 interesting to share that history with our Arkansas listeners about a figure who gets overlooked sometimes.鈥� Outside of work, Patel enjoys watching basketball, either the Milwaukee Bucks or the UCA Bears, and playing video games. He also serves as a board member for the Society of Professional Journalists and encourages people to support local news. 鈥淚 would encourage people to pay more attention to local politics and local news,鈥� Patel said. 鈥淚 used to only look at national news, but it鈥檚 important to learn about what is going on in your community. It鈥檚 cool to read feature stories that you can鈥檛 always get from a national news organization.鈥�