Author Talk: Rob Wells

"The Insider"

The Untold Story of Journalist Willard Kiplinger's Influence in The New Deal

Join us to hear Rob Wells, associate professor at Merrill College, discuss his new book "The Insider: How the Kiplinger Newsletter Bridged Washington and Wall Street." The event is sponsored by the Northwest Arkansas Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Wells will discuss legendary journalist Willard Kiplinger and how his reporting career offers lessons on digital journalism, aiding people who are looking to launch their own news website or YouTube channel. Because of his involvement with senior politicians and business leaders dating back to World War I, analysis of Kiplinger's career yields valuable reporting knowledge.

The heart of the book examines the question of a journalist as a political actor. During the New Deal, Kiplinger played an important role in the broader movement to rescue capitalism during the Great Depression. Kiplinger helped bridge Washington and Wall Street since he urged businesses to accept the new federal government regulation as an evolution in the U.S. markets. Kiplinger worked behind the scenes and influenced Franklin Roosevelt's key adviser, the Treasury Secretary and many others. The book examines journalism, politics, history, business and more.

Dr. Rob Wells, a 2016 Ph.D. alum of Merrill College, returned to the university in the Spring 2022 semester after more than five years at the University of Arkansas, where he rose to the rank of associate professor and led Arkansas' journalism graduate program. Wells has more than two decades of business journalism experience at The Associated Press, Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal. While at Arkansas, Wells ran ArkansasCovid.com, a statewide daily data and news website reporting on the pandemic. He also partnered with Merrill’s Howard Center for Investigative Journalism on multiple projects, including the award-winning “Nowhere To Go” homelessness investigation. Wells is also the author of “The Enforcers: How Little-Known Trade Reporters Exposed the Keating Five and Advanced Business Journalism” (University of Illinois Press, 2019). While working on his doctorate at Merrill, Wells created a business reporting capstone class. During the 2011-12 school year, he helped launch a business reporting program at the University of South Carolina while serving as a Reynolds Visiting Business Journalism Professor. 

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