Citing 2019 reports by PEN America and the Brookings Institution, Tom Arenberg, who researches news writing and web metrics as an instructor at the University of Alabama, painted a desolate-yet-hopeful picture of local journalism when he spoke to Alabama Media Professionals at the group’s monthly meeting Feb. 13. As readers and advertisers moved online, ad revenue went to Google and Facebook, not local news publishers, Arenberg said. Between 2004 and 2018, 20 percent of Ameri

We live in an era where everyone is a journalist, AL.com columnist Roy S. Johnson said at Alabama Media Professionals’ Sept. 12 meeting, and, overall, he thinks that’s a good thing. “Everybody's got a phone,” Johnson said. “Everybody's got a device. And so the challenge is filtering through the noise, filtering through what's real and what’s just people spouting. So it's a challenging time and it’s is a great time. I look at it as a positive. There are no more secrets. Ima

Print journalism is on the wane, as most of us realize. But that doesn’t mean that digital media can’t continue traditions of professional journalism, according to Mark Mayfield, associate director of student media at the University of Alabama. Mayfield spoke at the Feb. 9 AMP meeting at the Homewood Library. Although the preferred media may have changed from print to digital format, there’s one thing that hasn’t changed, Mayfield said. That’s the need for talented writers

Available for more freelance work. Based in the Birmingham area. Gina Vitolo-Stevens is a two-time Gold Addy award-winning Journalist and Copywriter and has worked as a Newspaper Editor, Radio Broadcaster, NBC Affiliate Television Promotions Coordinator, Medium to large radio station News Personality, Voice-Over Talent, Theater Director/Choreographer, and Actor. As a journalist and photographer, she has interviewed and photographed celebrities such as, Presidents Obama, Clint