Alabama Media Group
Alabama Media Group is an operating division of the Southeast Regional Media Group (Advance Media Southeast), which is part of the Staten Island, New York-based Advance Publications, owned by Donald Newhouse.
The division was originally set up as a separate company in 2012 to create content for the Birmingham News, Huntsville Times, Mobile Press-Register and Mississippi Press, and also for the AL.com and Gulflive.com websites. It maintained "digital hub" offices in Birmingham, Hunstville and Mobile. Originally operating from the 2006 Birmingham News building, the company moved to the Young & Vann Building at 1731 1st Avenue North in March 2014.
In 2015 the Alabama Media Group merged with Advance's NOLA Media Group to form the Southeast Regional Media Group, based out of New Orleans, Louisiana. Tom Bates continued to manage the Birmingham-based staff with vice-president for content Michelle Holmes and vice-president for sales Natalie Pruitt.
In December 2016 the Alabama Media Group donated its combined collections of over 3 million photographic negatives to the Alabama Department of Archives and History for preservation and curation for research and for digitization for public access.
In June 2018 Holmes was promoted to "Head of Partnerships", with her position as VP of content taken over by Kelly Ann Scott, formerly of the Reno Gazette Journal and associated USA Today properties. Izzy Gould was named "Senior Director of Sports", and Elizabeth Whitmire was named "Senior Director of Audience Development", overseeing the company's Red Clay Media brands.
As of February 2022, Alabama Media Group's brand portfolio included eight brands: AL.com, Reckon South, The Birmingham News, Press-Register, and The Huntsville Times. Its Red Clay Media social media division included the "This is Alabama", "People of Alabama", and "It's a Southern Thing" brands. By the end of the year, that line-up had shifted to include the Report for America-supported Alabama Education Lab; Advance Originals commercial film production; and the Birmingham, Huntsville and Mobile editions of "The Lede", a daily news digest.
On February 26, 2023 the final print editions of The Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times and The Mobile Press-Register were distributed as Alabama Media Group shifted to all-digital delivery. Later that year the company moved its production offices to the Denham Building. Pruitt succeeded Bates as president of the company after his retirement in May of that year.
Hollis Towns succeeded Scott as vice president and editor-in-chief in March 2024.
Publications
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Presidents
- Cindy Martin, April 2012–September 2013
- Tom Bates, 2015–May 2023
- Natalie Pruit, May 2023–
References
- "Kelly Ann Scott named Alabama Media Group content VP." (June 20, 2018) The Birmingham News
- "Our Brand Portfolio" (February 14, 2022) alabamamediagroup.com via archive.org
- "Alabama Media Group shifts to all-digital, will stop publishing newspapers in 2023" (November 3, 2022) AL.com
- Rebman, Stephanie (April 2, 2023) "Alabama Media Group relocating downtown headquarters." Birmingham Business Journal
- "Alabama Media Group names new president." (April 27, 2023) AL.com
- Koplowitz, Howard (February 22, 2024) "Hollis R. Towns named vice president of content, editor in chief of Alabama Media Group." AL.com