South Carolina’s The Post and Courier recently joined the News Media Alliance. One of the oldest newspapers in the South, its age hasn’t kept it from being at the top of its game. The paper won its first Pulitzer Prize in 1925, for editorial writing, and more recently in 2015 for public service journalism when it published a series of articles about the toll domestic violence takes on women in South Carolina. Now, The Post and Courier has joined the Alliance for help navigating today’s economic and political landscape, and to keep its excellent journalism alive and flourishing.
The Alliance’s strengths when it comes to public policy and dealing with congressional issues and lobbying are what prompted The Post and Courier to join the Alliance now. “We’ve always thought of the Alliance as being strong when it comes to public policy and really watching the backs of the industry,” said publisher P.J. Browning. “With newsprint tariffs in particular and the problem of fake news, we just felt that the timing was right to join and really have in-depth understanding of what the Alliance is doing for the industry.”
“The Alliance has some real strengths in being able to get to the decision-makers,” Browning added. “I feel like we have good representation in South Carolina, but we needed to make sure we were having the right conversations with the right people.”
The Post and Courier has been a top-notch source of news for South Carolinians since its earliest days. It began as The Courier, which was founded in 1803, and which in 1926 joined with The Evening Post, founded in 1894. Since then, it has been a primary source of news for people across the state, and today, the paper is known for its exceptional local news coverage, including, most recently, its coverage of Hurricane Florence and the storm’s aftermath.
Their continued dedication to producing quality content for their local and regional audiences has allowed them to remain profitable, but the added business benefits of Alliance membership appealed to Browning.
“Being able to sit down with major advertisers [at adXchange] and walk away with some solid business and relationships meant a lot,” she said. “I think we’ve gotten away from that in our industry, and we need more of our top leadership meeting with those advertisers, so the fact that the Alliance can provide that is invaluable.”
Please take a moment to welcome The Post and Courier to the Alliance. You can send your welcome messages to them on Twitter.
Jennifer Peters is former content manager of the News Media Alliance.
