Historic, black-owned Birmingham newspaper changes hands – WBRC

BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC) – More than 50 years after founding The Birmingham Times, African-American business legend Dr. Jesse Lewis, Sr. is selling the paper to an organization with major plans to update the publication to compete in the digital era.
The Foundation for Progress in Journalism, a non-profit led by former Montgomery Advertiser publisher Sam Martin, will take control of the Times.
Veteran newsman and author Barnett Wright, who spent more than a decade covering Jefferson County for The Birmingham News and AL.com will serve as the Times‘ executive editor.
Wright said the foundation was set up to take ownership of the Times and that its mission will include training young journalists.
Terms of the sale were not disclosed.
An article on the Times website says the 91-year-old Lewis will remain publisher emeritus of the paper.
But Wright said there are big plans for the new Birmingham Times Media Group.
“There will be a complete redesign of the paper and the website. It will look very different not five years from now, but one year from now,” he said.
Wright said the foundation is buying the paper “to make sure Dr. Lewis’ legacy continues.”
Dr. Lewis, who also founded the nation’s first black-owned ad agency, started The Birmingham Times in 1963 to provide a more positive and balanced picture of the lives of people in the city’s black community.
The paper has featured his “One Man’s Opinion” column on race, politics and other issues of the day.
The acquisition of the Times is also a bit of a homecoming for Wright.
“When I arrived in Birmingham in 2000, my first job was at the Birmingham Times”, he said.
Read the full news release from Lewis & Company here.
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