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Voices contributor
Don Henninger

Don Henninger

Don Henninger spent 35 years as a newspaper journalist in Arizona and currently is the co-director of the Arizona Democracy Resilience Network.

1 essay on Arizona Talks Voices. Back to all Voices →

Don Henninger

Don Henninger

3 min read

Why I stay in the arena

I’ve spent more than three decades in Arizona’s public life — most of it in media, where the job is to observe, analyze, and, at times, amplify the noise. For a long time, that felt like enough. You cover the story. You move on to the next one. But something changed. In recent years, especially around our elections, I found myself less interested in the daily headlines and more drawn to what was happening underneath them. The arguments were getting louder, the lines sharper, the trust thinner.

Why I stay in the arena