4 Newspapers in Alabama, Mississippi to End Print Editions

A stack of newspapers and a laptop on a table. (Kozyr/Shutterstock)

For readers of three newspapers in Alabama and one in Mississippi, next month will mark the end of an era of print journalism. Alabama Media Group (AMG) announced in November that publication of four print editions will halt on Feb. 26 to move fully digital.

“We remain deeply committed to serving our local communities and are producing high-quality journalism and reaching more people than ever before,” said Tom Bates, president of AMG, in the announcement. “At the same time, we’re adjusting to how Alabama readers want their information today, which increasingly is on a mobile device, not in a printed newspaper.”

The Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times, The Mississippi Press, and the Press-Register in Mobile, Alabama, will be available exclusively online through AL.com and gulflive.com, with print editions published through Sunday, Feb. 26. All print subscribers will continue to receive a daily e-edition, according to the AMG announcement.

AMG leaders say the move will allow them to focus on the online media brands of the four papers, along with other digital media brands under the company’s umbrella. AMG also provides other media services not directly related to journalism, such as digital marketing services and film production.

While the presses will stop, the company said it plans to keep offices in each metro area it serves, but a production facility in Mobile, Alabama, will close and affect local employees tasked with production, circulation, and advertising, AMG explained in a press release.

An iPad displays the Independent's online platform above a selection of the print versions of their titles on Feb. 12, 2016. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Bates said that focusing on the digital brands and social media and other platforms allows the company to reach a larger audience and to tell stories in all formats, including video and audio.

“This decision also allows us to invest in more local coverage, more investigative reporting and more initiatives like our education lab, which aims to improve our state’s K-12 education system,” Bates said.

“Local news reporting is alive and well in Alabama. Our newsroom is larger today than it was five years ago—and will be larger next year than it is today. Our mission is the same, but the business model is changing. Fortunately, as our audience has moved online, so have the majority of our ad clients, which has set us up well for the future.”

AMG brands have more than 3.4 million followers across social media platforms, according to The Associated Press. AMG is owned by Advance Local, which is part of Advance Publications, along with Condé Nast and American City Business Journals. Advance Local owns media brands in nine states or regions.

Advance Local’s History of Digital

Advance Local began its swing to digital-first publishing in New Orleans in 2012, when the company owned The Times-Picayune, according to a report by Poynter.

At the time, the move to eliminate four days of print papers was labeled as happening too soon, with Poynter reporting it as an “abrupt swing to digital.” The New York Times said Advance Local “had buckled under the pressures of the modern newspaper market.”

In 2019, The New Orleans Advocate bought The Times-Picayune from Advance Local.

The New Orleans Advocate—a rival publication that sprung up after Advance Local moved The Times-Picayune to nola.com—was initially an offshoot of The Advocate in Baton Rouge, but the New Orleans edition grew as it became the only daily print newspaper in the city.