By Katie Hightower- Jackson County Sentinel
The Times-Journal resides in the Southern Torch office at 225 Gault Avenue in Fort Payne where the WKEA and WMXN radio stations also broadcast live.
The Jackson County Sentinel moved to their new Southern Torch location at 208 South Broad Street on the square in Scottsboro in December 2023. The location also includes a radio studio to be used for broadcasting by WKEA 98.3 Wild Country and WMXN 101.7 The Torch upon completion.
Eleven years ago, Southern Torch established its online media resources to bring news, entertainment, sports and information to the public of North Alabama. While the age of Southern Torch is just over a decade, its umbrella of publications and broadcasting together bring over a century of history and experience to Southern Torch’s legacy.
The Times-Journal, a consolidation of several newspapers, had its earliest beginnings with the Fort Payne Journal in 1878. This 146 years of making news marks the Times-Journal as Alabama’s oldest newspaper. After The DeKalb Times and The Collinsville New Era merged into the Times-New Era, the consolidation then merged with the Fort Payne Journal to make the Times-Journal in 1959. With three highly-regarded publications as its foundation, the Times-Journal established an invaluable resource of journalism in DeKalb County.
The Jackson County Sentinel began in 1887 as a newspaper called the Progressive Age. In 1962, the Progressive Age and the Jackson County Sentinel merged into the Sentinel-Age. In 1970, that paper changed its name to The Daily Sentinel. Finally, in 2017, the name changed back to Jackson County Sentinel as it remains named today. With 137 years of history, the award-winning Jackson County Sentinel holds a wealth of history and records for Jackson County.
The Sand Mountain Reporter was the first offset printed newspaper in Alabama and the third in the nation. The paper began printing Aug. 5, 1955, after consolidating with the Sand Mountain Banner, the Boaz News Leader and the Albertville Herald. For nearly seven decades, the Sand Mountain Reporter has served the residents of the Marshall County area.
WKEA 98.3 Wild Country began as WCNA-FM in 1965. In 1981, the call-sign was changed to WKEA-FM. In 2019, after Southern Torch’s acquisition, WKEA was rebranded Wild Country. For 59 years, the radio station has brought country music, local news and information to residents of North Alabama.
WMXN 101.7 The Torch embarked on its broadcast journey in 1977 with the call sign WVSU. Several call-signs and 47 years later, WMXN still reaches residents across North Alabama with classic hits, news, weather and entertainment.
Southern Torch also offers commercial printing out of their print shop located in Rainsville. The shop houses all of the production needs of the newspapers’ magazines and glossy-print productions.
The Times-Journal published the monthly DeKalb Living magazine as well as their annual publications of the DeKalb County Visitor’s Guide, a business card directory, a senior directory, a menu guide, a medical professionals guide, Boom Days magazine, Southern Torch Playbook football preview magazine and Halftime Showcase magazine.
The Jackson County Sentinel publishes the bi-monthly Jackson magazine. The magazine first published in 2010 as a quarterly product. In December of 2017 the magazine became a monthly product and then transitioned to a bi-monthly product in June 2021. Jackson was created to showcase the Jackson County area and the people and places that make it unique.
The Jackson County Sentinel also produces other annual magazines such as a graduation magazine, Gridiron Guide football preview magazine, Halftime Showcase magazine, InSight magazine and the Chamber of Commerce’s Jackson County, Alabama newcomers and visitors guide.
The Sand Mountain Reporter publishes the Land and Lake magazine, as well as their annual productions including the Reader’s Choice magazine, a football preview magazine, Halftime Showcase magazine, a graduation magazine, menu guide and business card directory.
In only 11 years, Southern Torch adopted 146 years of historical journalism, iconic publications, entertainment and culture into its media family. With its media conglomerate, Southern Torch has the largest presence and public following in Northeast Alabama.
“We are so proud to mark our 11th birthday,” said Southern Torch President Nick Jones. “It has been a wild ride and just gets better every year. We have wonderful brands and staff that proudly shares them with our audience daily. Stayed tuned in — we are just getting started!”
At a time when the future of media was uncertain, Southern Torch boldly stepped up, grabbed the reigns and steered North Alabama into the future of mass media. Crossing over to social media, making online publications accessible to all and expanding into digital marketing, Southern Torch offered the opportunity for growth in all its media outlets’ futures.
