Montgomery Advertiser

Montgomery Advertiser

Front page of the Montgomery Advertiser,
July 19, 2009
Type Daily newspaper
Format Broadsheet
Owner(s) Gannett Company
Publisher Robert Granfeldt, Jr.
Editor Thomas S. Clifford
Founded 1829
(as The Planter's Gazette)
Language English
Headquarters 425 Molton St.
Montgomery, Alabama, 36104
USA
Circulation 46,725 (daily)
61,500 (Sunday)
Website www.montgomeryadvertiser.com

The Montgomery Advertiser is a daily newspaper and 24-7 digital news provider located in Montgomery, Alabama. It was founded in 1829.

History

The newspaper began publication in 1829 as The Planter's Gazette. Its first editor was Moseley Baker. It became the Montgomery Advertiser in 1833. In 1903, R.F. Hudson, a young Alabama newspaperman, joined the staff of the Advertiser and rose through the ranks of the newspaper. Hudson was central to improving the financial situation of the newspaper, and by 1924 he owned 10% of its stock. Hudson purchased the remaining shares of the company in 1935, and five years later he bought The Alabama Journal, a competitor founded in Montgomery in 1889. Ownership of the Advertiser subsequently passed from Hudson's heirs to Carmage Walls (1963), through Multimedia Corp. (1968) to Gannett Company (1995).[1]

The newspaper won the first of its three Pulitzer Prize awards under the direction of Grover C. Hall (1888–1941), who came to the Advertiser in 1910 and served as editor from 1926 until his death. The Advertiser waged war on the Ku Klux Klan during the 1920s, and became nationally prominent for the coverage and editorial stance.[1][2] Hall later argued for release of the black Scottsboro Boys.[3]

One December 1938 editorial by Hall was published in the U.S. Congressional Record on January 17, 1939: "The Egregious Gentile Called to Account".[4] It carried the subtitle: "Clinical notes on his lack of gallantry and sportsmanship, his bad mental habits, his tactlessness, his lack of imagination, his poor discernment, his faults as citizen and neighbor, his gullibility and arrogance." Hall concluded that in order to save "the lovely pillars of civilization we shall have to purge ourselves. That striding Colossus known as the Nordic Gentile must be born again."[5]

Grover C. Hall, Jr. (1915–1971) worked at the paper from age 20 and served 15 years as editor after World War II. He allied with the politician George C. Wallace in 1958.[6]

In 1975, the newspaper investigated the shooting of Bernard Whitehurt by police and wrote news stories that questioned the original police reports.[5] To counter claims that newspaper was fabricating stories, publisher, Harold E. Martin, took and passed a polygraph.[5]

The Alabama Journal continued as a local afternoon paper until April 16, 1993, when it published its last issue before merging with the morning Advertiser.[7]

In October 2008, the Advertiser, which describes itself as having been "the leading newspaper of the new Confederate states",[1] endorsed the presidential candidacy of Illinois African-American Senator Barack Obama.[8]

The Advertiser is the largest of the 22 daily newspapers published in Alabama. Three other newspapers—the Birmingham News, Huntsville Times and Press-Register (Mobile)—were once larger than the Advertiser but reduced their publications to three days a week.[9] The Advertiser also publishes online at www.montgomeryadvertiser.com and is available via smart phones and tablet apps.

The current (2014) President and Publisher is Robert Granfeldt Jr. Executive Editor is Tom Clifford. Teresa Hicks is the Advertising Director.

Awards

The newspaper has earned numerous state, regional and nation, al awards, including three Pulitzer Prizes:

References

  1. 1 2 3 "History of the Montgomery Advertiser". Montgomery Advertiser: a Gannett Company. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  2. 1 2 "Editorial Writing". The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  3. ↑ The Journal of Southern History 50:2 (May 1984) pp. 332–34. Review by Charles W. Eagles, University of Mississippi, of An Alabama Newspaper Tradition: Grover C. Hall and the Hall Family. Daniel Webster Hollis III. University of Alabama. 1983. Pages 332–34 at jstor.org. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  4. ↑ "Hall, Grover Cleveland, 1884{sic} – 1941". Alabama Authors. The University of Alabama Libraries. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  5. ↑ "The Egregious Gentile Called to Account". Grover C. Hall, Editor The Montgomery Advertiser. The Florence Times (Florence, AL), December 10, 1938. Image at Google News. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  6. ↑ "Hall, Grover Cleveland, Jr., 1915-1971". Alabama Authors. UA Libraries. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  7. ↑ The Alabama Journal, April 16, 1993, p. 1.
  8. ↑ "Editorial: Obama Better Candidate to Lead America", The Montgomery Advertiser, October 26, 2008, p. A7.
  9. ↑ Alabama Press Association: 2008 Ratesheet.
  10. ↑ "Local Investigative Specialized Reporting". The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
  11. ↑ "General News Reporting". The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
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