Why We Do What We Do

Welcome to The Story of Us.

Alabama Media Group exists at its core for one reason: to produce excellent local journalism. Our purpose is to bring news to and tell the stories that reflect and shape our communities. We hope to drive daily conversations and engage millions through stories that inform, entertain, inspire and connect our communities, rural, urban and suburban, to the world around them.

With reporters, columnists, editors, cartoonists, photographers and videographers spread throughout the state, we’re committed to bringing real news and information to our communities. We drive daily conversations and engage millions through those stories. Stories that inform, entertain, inspire and connect our communities – rural, urban and suburban – to the world around them.

In today’s media landscape, local journalism has never been more important. Researchers at the University of North Carolina said it best, “In an age of fake news and divisive politics, the fate of communities across the country – and of grassroots democracy itself – is linked to the vitality of local journalism.”

Not only does local journalism serve as a watchdog for local communities, it connects and engages them in a way that national journalism cannot. 

Over the past year our newsroom has worked tirelessly to deliver the most important stories for our audience, and that hard work has not gone unnoticed. In April 2018, longtime columnist John Archibald won a Pulitzer Prize for lyrical and courageous commentary about Alabama politics in a year marked by trouble atop all three branches of state government and a dramatic U.S. Senate race that ended in an upset victory by Democrat Doug Jones over conservative judge Roy Moore. 

Our Alabama and Southern-centric social brands like People of Alabama, This is Alabama, It’s a Southern Thing and Reckon by AL.com have seen tremendous growth due to their ability to relate to and identify with their audiences. Reckon has garnered international recognition by winning an INMA award for Best Use of Video in the Alabama Senate Editorial Campaign. Even Facebook has paid attention to Reckon’s important work and funded our video series Chasing Corruption for a second season on Facebook Watch.

Our story never ends because the true stories of our communities are being written every day. If your business needs to reach a local audience you can find out how to do that here. If you want to learn more about our news and entertainment network of sites, channels and brands, click here. 

This is (just the beginning) of the story of us. And we’re glad you’re here. Over a series of blog posts we’ll show you how we got to where we are – including how important both readers and advertisers are to what we do, how it makes us a truly smart choice for advertisers in our communities, and how advertising allows us to fund journalism.

In the meantime, if your business needs to reach a local audience you can find out how to do that here. If you want to learn more about our news and entertainment network of sites, channels and brands, click here.

More to come. For a preview of our story, click here.