Online state news service set to start

Arkansas Advocate, an online news source reporting on Arkansas government and public policy, is set to begin publication on August 16.

The Advocate is part of the national nonprofit network States Newsroom and will be the network’s 28th outlet.

Editor-in-chief Sonny Albarado, a former Arkansas Democrat-Gazette projects editor, leads the Advocate’s newsroom. Former Democrat-Gazette projects editor Hunter Field and reporter Tess Vrbin have joined the staff along with Antoinette Grejeda, a public radio reporter and freelance journalist.

Reports will be available at www.arkansasadvocate.com and in morning email newsletters. The service is free and stories will be available for use by other Arkansas news organizations.

“We intend to provide Arkansans with responsible, ethical reporting about state government and leaders that focuses on the relationship between people, power and policy,” Albarado said in a news release. “We aim to hold public officials accountable and to amplify the voices of Arkansans whose lives are most affected by those who manipulate the levers of power.”