Acquisitions
A year later the paper made good use of its new space by purchasing the rival Birmingham Ledger, increasing the size of its staff to 748 and its circulation to 60,000.
In 1927 the Birmingham Age-Herald was sold to Hanson, who continued publishing both papers. In 1950 Scripps-Howard, which already owned the Birmingham Post, bought the Age-Herald but entered into a joint-operating agreement that moved the new Birmingham Post-Herald into the Birmingham News building. The News press printed both papers and handled advertising and subscriptions sales while the editorial and reporting staffs remained independent. The agreement lasted until the Post-Herald ceased publication in September 2005, leaving the News as Birmingham's only daily newspaper.
Sale
In 1956, the Hanson family sold the News to S. I. Newhouse Sr.'s Advance Publications in New York for $18 million, the largest sum that had been paid at the time for a daily newspaper. The privately held Advance continues to own the News as well as The Huntsville Times and Mobile's Press-Register, the three largest newspapers in Alabama, as well as their shared website, al.com.
In 1997, the News Company switched the morning and evening publications, making the News the morning paper and the Post-Herald the evening paper. This move reinforced the News's preeminent role as morning papers were the norm.
On August 10, 2006, the News cut the ribbon on their new headquarters building across 4th Avenue from their 1917 plant. The $25 million, 4-story, 110000 sqft brick and limestone building, designed by Williams-Blackstock Architects, borrows several details from the older building and is dramatically bisected by a glass atrium. The 1917 building was demolished in 2008 in order to make room for a surface parking lot serving employees of the paper. The lot is between the new office building and the facility that houses The Birmingham News presses. On January 22, 2013, Alabama Media Group announced it was selling the building, saying the high-tech, modern and open facility was not conducive to its digital-first, print-last operations.
In 2009, Advance Publications' three Alabama newspapers were organized into the Advance Alabama Group, headed by Ricky Mathews, publisher of the Mobile newspaper. Although Advance had owned the News since 1956, the Hanson family continued to run the business until December 1, 2009, when Victor H. Hanson III (1956–), retired at the age of 52. Hanson was replaced by Pam Siddall, previously the publisher of The Wichita Eagle and The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.
In 2011, the News acquired Birmingham magazine from the Birmingham Business Alliance.[4]
The Birmingham News maintained bureaus in Montgomery and Washington, D.C. The Washington bureau was closed in September 2012.
The Birmingham News moved out of its 2006 building in 2014, after its owners cut back publication and could no longer afford to occupy the large building. The News moved into a renovated old warehouse a few blocks away, with the 2006 building on the market. In 2015, Infinity Property & Casualty Corp. purchased the old News building for $20 million.[5]
Statistics and facts
The Birmingham News in 1888 cost on average $5 a year and 25 cents for three months, compared to 2013, when it costs $35 for thirteen weeks.[6] Between 1888 and 1895 it jumped from just 18,000 subscribers to 40,000. This leap was due to not only a booming city, but also a rise in literacy rates and a middle class that was growing with increasing numbers of blue-collar jobs with increasing development of resources such as coal and cotton.
At its peak, The Birmingham News reached more than 215,000 readers a week.[7]
Print-edition cutbacks
On May 24, 2012, Advance Publications announced that its three Alabama newspapers would do away with print editions on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The move was a result of the continuing decline in advertising revenue and circulation for its traditional print products. The move places increased emphasis on their website, al.com, and reorganizes the Alabama properties into two companies: Alabama Media Group, the editorial and advertising side; and Advance Central Services Alabama, which handles production, distribution and back-office services.[8]
The changes took effect on October 1, 2012, making Birmingham the second-largest city in the United States to not be served by a daily newspaper; New Orleans became the largest that same day. New Orleans lost that dubious distinction when Baton Rouge's daily newspaper, The Advocate, began publication of a daily edition in New Orleans; further, on June 24, 2013, The Times-Picayune resumed daily publication with a tabloid edition called "TP Street" sold only through newsstands and retailers.[9] The owners of The Advocate bought The Times-Picayune in 2019 and merged the two into one daily newspaper.
With the changes in New Orleans, Birmingham became the largest city in the country without its own daily newspaper and remained so until the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reduced publication from daily to five editions per week in 2018, then to twice a week in 2021.
On November 3, 2022, Advance management announced that the News, as well as its sister newspapers in Huntsville and Mobile, would discontinue its print edition on February 26, 2023, and convert to an all-digital operation.
Editorial stance
According to the paper in 2017, when offering a political endorsement, it generally skews toward the Republican Party with a few exceptions.[11] The paper endorsed Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 United States presidential election,[12] and on November 18, 2017, it endorsed Democrat Doug Jones in the 2017 U.S. Senate special election in Alabama.[13]
