AL.com
AL.com is a privately-held news website produced by Alabama Media Group with offices at 1731 1st Avenue North. The website was originally launched as Alabama Live.
Alabama Media Group describes AL.com as “Alabama’s #1 news source for important stories Alabamians are talking about, including Alabama and Auburn football, breaking news, special investigations, politics, Alabama culture and trending topics. On AL.com you’ll find the best in- state college football coverage, buzz-worthy trending topics, important news investigations, breaking news, politics, people and places that impact Alabama and its people. AL.com advertising opportunities include digital display advertising, sponsored articles and video. AL.com also offers special platforms for job listings, auto listings, obituaries, celebrations and for sale ads.”
Comment Controversy
Since its launch, AL.com allowed registered users to leave comments on articles in order to generate reader engagement. Authors were required to engage in a certain number of daily interactions with posters to further generate engagement. However, many readers, authors, and AL.com staff felt that the comments created a “toxic atmosphere”. On February 27, 2020, AL.com, along with all news websites owned by Advance Local (a parent company of Alabama Media Group) eliminated the ability for registered users to comment on articles. AL.com and Advance local cited this toxic atmosphere, the ability to comment on articles on social media platforms, and the fact that only a tiny fraction of website visitors using the comment feature as rationale for eliminating the ability to comment.
Reach and Audience
According to Alabama Media Group’s 2021 Media Kit, AL.com is “the state’s largest news and entertainment network”. AL.com reaches over 10 million unique visitors in Alabama each month, and averages 48 million page views per month. AL.com reaches aproximately 60% of households in the Greater Birmingham Metro Area. Their audience is 52% male, 49% female, and the largest audience in terms of age is 55+ (26%), followed by 35-44 (23%), then 45-55 (20%), 25-34 (19%), and finally 18-24 (12%).
Reliability and Bias
According to multiple media bias and fact checking sources, AL.com is highly factual in its reporting and has high credibility. Their news content generally has a right-center or slightly right bias, receiving a bias rating of Right Center from Media Bias / Fact Check and a bias score of -1.56 from ad fonte media. According to Media Bias / Fact Check, “the headlines and articles use minimally loaded words and typically quote right-leaning sources that are credible. Editorially, they have a slight right-leaning bias and employ known right-wing columnists, such as Cameron Smith, Vice President of the R Street Institute, a conservative and libertarian think tank based in Washington, D.C. They generally report the news factually and with a moderate conservative bias.”
Notable Authors
References
- Carlton, Bob (May 24, 2016) "Birmingham radio station 99.5 FM completes the switch to news-talk." The Birmingham News
- "WZRR" (November 26, 2021) Wikipedia - accessed December 3, 2021
- [www.alabamamediagroup.com Alabama Media Group 2021 Media Kit], accessed February 15, 2022
- Media Bias / Fact Check - AL.com, accessed February 15, 2022
- ad fonte media - AL.com, accessed February 15, 2022
- Cassie Fambro (Jun. 26, 2015) Check out this AL.com shirt a reader made in tribute to commenters, accessed February 15, 2022
- Tom Arenberg (March 2, 2020) Web Comments: You Know It’s Bad When Even Advance Has Had Enough, accessed February 15, 2022
- AL.com staff (Feb. 25, 2020) FAQ: Why are you turning off comments?, accessed February 15, 2022
- Kelly Scott and Bob Sims (Feb. 25, 2020) End of an era: Comments end on AL.com on Thursday, accessed February 15, 2022
External links
- AL.com website