Montgomery Advertiser’s gone wild...in Innovation, that is.
Corey Johnson
Scottsboro High School
Scottsboro, AL
When times get tough, what does the newspaper with the largest readership in the state of Alabama do? It gets with the times.
If you just so happen to be born after the eighties, chances are that you have not picked up a paper copy of the local newspaper in quite a while.
The world has drastically changed since the end of the previous century. Instead of picking up the morning paper, we are on the go all the time, checking up on world and local events via smartphones, iPads, mini-laptops, etc. This has obviously caused retractions in newspaper sales all across the world and many already-struggling presses to shut down for good, creating a steady rise in the already staggering national 9.1 unemployment percentage rate. It appears as if print news is going down the toilet.
In Montgomery, Alabama’s state capital, this isn’t the case.
In order to combat the ever-widening rift between those familiar with old technology and those with new, the Montgomery Advertiser has made it a top priority to recruit and intern college students majoring in the field of journalism and communications. The more familiar a business’ staff is with up-to-date technology and cultural trends, the more appealing the business will appear to the consumer. Most, if not all, staff reporters have Facebook and Twitter accounts, breaking news to the public just as it occurs in front of their very eyes.
One of these is recent Auburn University graduate a first year crime reporter Matt Okarmus.
“We always have to be on alert. We’re journalists 24/7, not just 8 to 10 hours a day. When something occurs and we have to go report on it, it does not matter what time it is, just so long as we get the story. Sometimes I have two hours to crank out a story. I wasn’t used to that,” said Okarmus.
In addition, the newspaper’s online site has incorporated multiple photo galleries of events around the Montgomery city area, such as parades and art festivals and even rural damage left behind after the statewide April 27tornadoes. The minimal number of photos in a gallery is 15, however most typically exceed 30 to 50.
The Montgomery Advertiser has modernized itself and become a twenty-first century newspaper, including controversial watchdog projects and Freedom of Information articles in the popular opinion columns, and serving Montgomery and all of central Alabama with instant news and speed.
“Newspapers will be around for a long, long time. The jobs we got, they stay interesting.”
Scottsboro High School
Scottsboro, AL
When times get tough, what does the newspaper with the largest readership in the state of Alabama do? It gets with the times.
If you just so happen to be born after the eighties, chances are that you have not picked up a paper copy of the local newspaper in quite a while.
The world has drastically changed since the end of the previous century. Instead of picking up the morning paper, we are on the go all the time, checking up on world and local events via smartphones, iPads, mini-laptops, etc. This has obviously caused retractions in newspaper sales all across the world and many already-struggling presses to shut down for good, creating a steady rise in the already staggering national 9.1 unemployment percentage rate. It appears as if print news is going down the toilet.
In Montgomery, Alabama’s state capital, this isn’t the case.
In order to combat the ever-widening rift between those familiar with old technology and those with new, the Montgomery Advertiser has made it a top priority to recruit and intern college students majoring in the field of journalism and communications. The more familiar a business’ staff is with up-to-date technology and cultural trends, the more appealing the business will appear to the consumer. Most, if not all, staff reporters have Facebook and Twitter accounts, breaking news to the public just as it occurs in front of their very eyes.
One of these is recent Auburn University graduate a first year crime reporter Matt Okarmus.
“We always have to be on alert. We’re journalists 24/7, not just 8 to 10 hours a day. When something occurs and we have to go report on it, it does not matter what time it is, just so long as we get the story. Sometimes I have two hours to crank out a story. I wasn’t used to that,” said Okarmus.
In addition, the newspaper’s online site has incorporated multiple photo galleries of events around the Montgomery city area, such as parades and art festivals and even rural damage left behind after the statewide April 27tornadoes. The minimal number of photos in a gallery is 15, however most typically exceed 30 to 50.
The Montgomery Advertiser has modernized itself and become a twenty-first century newspaper, including controversial watchdog projects and Freedom of Information articles in the popular opinion columns, and serving Montgomery and all of central Alabama with instant news and speed.
“Newspapers will be around for a long, long time. The jobs we got, they stay interesting.”
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In order to learn more about the Montgomery Advertiser, visit their website.
In order to learn more about the Montgomery Advertiser, visit their website.