The death of Southern Progress?

Posted on March 23, 2010 by | 6 comments

Birmingham publisher drops company Web site

Once among Birmingham’s largest publishing companies, Southern Progress Corporation has shrunk in population by more than half in less than 2 years. Its personnel have consolidated in two of three buildings on its Lakeshore Drive campus. It has closed down two magazines and sold off one operation. Many functions — human resources, marketing, accounting, building operations — have been consolidated or moved to Time Inc.’s New York headquarters.

And now, it has shuttered its online presence, southernprogress.com. The site now redirects to the Time Inc. corporate site. [view of site cached in Google]

southernprogress.com site1

Southernprogress.com: 2008 version (from archive.org)

southernprogress.com site2

Southernprogress.com: 2010 incomplete version
(from Google cache)

For some time, Southern Progress has been fading into oblivion, as sweeping changes throughout the publisher have roiled the Birmingham-based operation. In essence, the corporation that was formed 30 years ago and sold to Time Inc. 25 years ago barely exists, even as its employees still work under the existing titles Southern Living, Cooking Light, Health, Coastal Living, Oxmoor House, MyRecipes.com, MyHomeIdeas.com and Sunset.

Is the city losing one of its publishing companies to consolidation, economics and neglect?

Update March 24: This very report has spawned this odd headline … “Southern Progress not dead, Time Inc. says.”

Photo: Nelson Glass

• • •

More coverage of Southern Progress Corporation.

• • •

Read more Birmingham media updates.

Have a news tip? Let us know!

6 Comments

Posted in In the news

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The future of Media of Birmingham

Posted on March 22, 2010 by | Leave a comment

First call for volunteer board members

MOB audience

When we founded Media of Birmingham in 2003, it was our hope that this organization serve the needs of our community and our industry through networking, camaraderie, training and discussion.

With just two of us working on events and membership, we’ve reached the point where we need to organize a core group of volunteers to keep the MOB strong into the next decade. That means more programming, better marketing and more consistent recruitment and dialogue.

This is the first step.

In the next few months, we’ll form and train a volunteer board and turn over the reins. You will have opportunities to plan events, recruit members, develop training sessions and panels, promote group activities and more.

But before that can happen, we need you to apply.

Please take a few minutes to sign up online if you’re interested. If you have questions, contact us.

APPLY TODAY!

Photo by J&M Photography and Design

Leave a comment

Posted in Updates

Tagged , , , ,

iPhone app review: Birmingham Business Journal

Posted on March 19, 2010 by | Leave a comment

The first Birmingham publication to move into the exploding iPhone market is the Birmingham Business Journal. The weekly newspaper already offers weekday site updates and e-mail bulletins.

In this post, we review the publication’s free iPhone app.

Birmingham-based iPhone developers Brian Cauble and Josh Grenon served as our guest reviewers.

Birmingham Business Journal iPhone app Birmingham Business Journal iPhone app

Birmingham Business Journal iPhone app:
article list and single story

What was your overall experience?

Brian: The overall experience was mixed. It was a very simple app that essentially only showed the story. However, it had no categorization of stories, which I found to be limiting.

Josh: Clunky.

Do you get the sense that this is a custom app, or a “skinned” app for various sister outlets?

Brian: I think this is an app developed for all the Biz Journals.

Josh: This could be a skinned app, but I get the sense that it is a custom app.

As a news consumer, what did you like? What would you add?

Brian: I liked that it sized the articles to fit on my screen properly. I would definitely add categories for the news stories.

Josh: I like that I can access the Birmingham Business Journal on my iPhone, but the user experience was horrible. I would redesign this application, because I had a much better experience on the mobile version of the Web site.

As an app developer, what did you like? How would you improve it?

Brian: This app is extremely simple. It delivers the news and lets you e-mail the stories, but that is about it. I would add a better organizational structure and more options for sharing stories.

Josh: I didn’t like anything in this application. The interface was not designed very well, and my experience suffered greatly. Tip for improvement: Use the New York Times iPhone app as inspiration on how this app should be redesigned.

Since it’s a free app, would you pay money for it? How much? Why or why not?

Brian: I would not pay for this app.

Josh: I would not pay 1 cent for it. Redesign the app, and then we’ll see if I will pay for it.

• • •

Our other iPhone app reviews:
CBS 42 app, Fox 6 app and BlazeRadio app.

• • •

brian caubleBrian Cauble (@briancauble) is the co-owner of Appsolute Genius, an iPhone application development company in Birmingham. His other interests include promoting local entrepreneurship through Birmingham Entrepreneur, participating in social media and a huge attachment to college football.

Josh GrenonJosh Grenon (@joshgrenon) is a .Net developer by day and an iPhone developer by night. He started developing iPhone applications — such as Bham iCamp — in early 2009. Josh is also executive producer of Inspirageek, a casual yet informative video blog for geeks, and founder of user group Birmingham Mobile Tech.

• • •

Read more Birmingham media updates.

Have a news tip? Let us know!

Leave a comment

Posted in Updates

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Photos from Media Outlets Unleashed

Posted on March 17, 2010 by | 4 comments
Vodpod videos no longer available.

The Media Outlets Unleashed panel was a great success. Our thanks to panelists Lauren Lippeatt, Joe O’Donnell and Ty West, and moderator Vickii Howell. Also thanks to our volunteer Audrey Atkins, and to our sponsors Kara Kennedy of the Samford University Brock School of Business and Andrea Walker of W Social Marketing.

Big thanks to Jelani Newton of J&M Photography and Design for shooting this event.

We’ve included a few photos below, but you can see them all in the slideshow above or on this full-screen presentation.

The audience

The audience

The panel

The panel

Pizza and salad for lunch from Mellow Mushroom

Pizza and salad for lunch from Mellow Mushroom

Joe O'Donnell, B-Metro Magazine, panelist

Joe O’Donnell, B-Metro Magazine, panelist

Lauren Lippeatt, Pavo Magazine, panelist

Lauren Lippeatt, Pavo Magazine, panelist

Ty West, Birmingham Business Journal, panelist

Ty West, Birmingham Business Journal, panelist

Vickii Howell, Birmingham View, panel moderator

Vickii Howell, Birmingham View, moderator

Cathy

Cathy

Crystal

Crystal

Dennis

Dennis

Joe, Lauren, Ty

Joe, Lauren, Ty

Wade, Vickii

Wade, Vickii

• • •

See more photos from other MOB events.

4 Comments

Posted in Photos

Tagged , , , ,

Intern – Birmingham Magazine (2010)

Posted on March 11, 2010 by | 1 comment

Our pal Carla Jean sent us this posting for Birmingham Magazine:

Birmingham Magazine tells the stories of the people, places and events that make Birmingham unique.

The magazine offers an unpaid, part-time editorial internship each semester, offering college students the opportunity to build resumes and portfolios as they write front-of-book pieces and monthly departments, assist in developing online content and fact-check listings.

Hard work and talent are rewarded with great clips; the fall 2009 intern wrote a six-page feature story for the December 2009 issue.

Applicants must be available a minimum of 15 hours per week. Prior journalism experience is expected, whether with college publications or elsewhere. Applicants should also be comfortable with AP Style.

Application deadlines:

  • Summer (May-August): April 1
  • Fall (September-December): July 1
  • Spring (January-April): Dec. 1

Send a cover letter, resume and three to five clips to cwhitley[at]bhammag.com.

• • •

Need a job? Check our job board.
Have a job to fill? Contact The MOB for your free listing.

1 Comment

Posted in Job postings

Tagged , , , ,

March event: March Mixer Madness

Posted on March 9, 2010 by | Leave a comment
  • Tuesday, March 16
  • 5:30-7 p.m.
  • Café Dupont, 113 20th St. N., downtown [map]
  • Free, but you must RSVP (else, $10 late fee)

Join us for St. Patrick’s Eve mixer at Café Dupont downtown for drinks and networking with Media of Birmingham.

Special: 25 percent off for
MOB members during our mixer!

[Bar menu]

Invite your friends and colleagues in media (print, broadcast, online, etc.), public relations, advertising and marketing.

Please RSVP by Monday, March 15, noon.

Note: You must RSVP for this event — NO WALK-INS. Late fee is $10; fees go to W Social Marketing.

Please RSVP by Monday, March 15, noon.

Special thanks to our sponsor, W Social Marketing.

Questions? Contact us or leave a comment.

W Social Marketing

P.S. Please join our free mailing list for all the updates straight to your In box.

Want to sponsor a MOB event? It’s easy.

Leave a comment

Posted in Our events

Tagged , , , , , , ,

SPJ regional conference in Orlando, March 19-20

Posted on March 3, 2010 by | Leave a comment

The Society of Professional Journalists’ regional conference will take place in Orlando later this month.

  • What: Society of Professional Journalists Region 3 Conference
  • When: March 19-20
  • Where: University of Central Florida, Orlando
  • Cost: $75, $65 for SPJ members. To register, visit the online form.

Workshops on the schedule include …

  • “The Future of Journalism (and Your Future in It)”
  • “How to Make Money Blogging”
  • “Freelancing: Strategies for Paying the Bills”

For more information, visit the conference site.

• • •

Read more stories on the Society of Professional Journalists.

Leave a comment

Posted in Local events

Tagged , , , , , ,

Red Cross new media presentation at IPSA on March 4

Posted on March 2, 2010 by | Leave a comment

“Blog it and they will come … From Face to Face to Facebook”

Osborne will show how the American Red Cross has to change with the times, trends and population. Osborne will review what they are doing locally, nationally and internationally to solicit support and update media outlets including the role of “new media.”

Osborne was formerly an award-winning reporter and videographer at ABC 33/40 and one of the founding members of the news team. He has worked 19 years in radio and television in Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois and Alabama. Osborne was the first black on-air personality at WCRK-AM in his hometown of Morristown, Tenn.

In 2007, Osborne launched a new career with the American Red Cross as the organization’s Public Affairs Officer for the Birmingham Area Chapter. Recently he was promoted to the senior management position of Chief Branding Officer. In that role, he is responsible for, among many other things, internal/external communications, community outreach, media relations, website/social media content and serves as the agency’s representative with Project SHARE which helps elderly and disabled citizens with utility bills.

• • •

Media of Birmingham: “Commercial to feature former ABC 33/40 reporter Chris Osborne”

• • •

Have an event to share? Let us know!

Leave a comment

Posted in Local events

Tagged , , , , ,

EXCLUSIVE: Birmingham Weekly editor laid off

Posted on March 1, 2010 by | 3 comments

Birmingham Weekly editor Glenny Brock has been laid off after more than 9 years at the alternative newspaper, Media of Birmingham has learned. She characterized the decision and the discussion with publisher Chuck Leishman as “mutually agreed upon.”

Glenny BrockHer last day and issue will be March 11.

Brock said by phone, “Freelancing not withstanding, it’s the only job I’ve ever had as a grownup, and it has made my career.”

It’s the second recent high-profile exit from the publication in less than 5 weeks: Columnist Kyle Whitmire left in late January.

Brock, who recently returned from an extended vacation in India, declined to give specifics on her next endeavor, except to say that she planned to stay in Birmingham and that she would pursue freelance and creative projects.

She started as a freelancer at the publication in August 2000, becoming a full-time staff member in December of that year, serving as contributing writer, staff writer, calendar editor and managing editor. Brock became editor in September 2002.

She added this statement by e-mail:

It’s time. I will always consider the Weekly my proving ground and the first great love of my professional life. I’ve done a lot of good work there and perhaps some great work. Now, after overseeing the completion of more than 460 issues of the paper and dozens of supplemental publications, it’s time to do something else.

When I became editor, I was fortunate to inherit a stable of writers that included Courtney Haden, Scot Lockman, Allen Barra, Kenn McCracken and Brent Thompson. Surely my greatest accomplishment was the recruitment of strong writers such as Kyle Whitmire, Jesse Chambers, Brooke Michael, Molly Folse, J’Mel Davidson, John Seay, Phil Ratliff and many, many others. Dynamos such as Phillip Jordan, Jonathan Purvis, Wes Frazer, Carey Norris, Andrew Thomas Clifton and Ingrid Norton came to the Weekly on their own, but I believe the relationships I have cultivated with these and other writers and artists are what has made the Weekly a respectable publication.

At this point, I can’t say what my future plans are, but my work at the Weekly has made my future possible.

She said that special projects editor Jesse Chambers has been tapped to succeed her as editor. Chambers began freelancing for Birmingham Weekly in 2004 and became a full-time staff writer in 2009.

A message was left with Leishman, and we hope to update with his response shortly.

• • •

Read more Birmingham media updates.

Have a news tip? Let us know!

3 Comments

Posted in In the news

Tagged , , ,