Nick Jones, President
FORT PAYNE, AL – Southern Torch, Inc. is thrilled to announce its acquisition of the
assets of The Times Journal. This deal consolidates the former news company rivals
and creates the largest media footprint in northeast Alabama. The acquisition also
includes the assets of the Jackson County Sentinel in Scottsboro and the assets of the
Sand Mountain Reporter in Albertville.
Southern Torch, Inc. owns and operates the Southern Torch weekly newspaper, the
southerntorch.com daily news website, and FM radio stations WKEA 98-3 Wild
Country & WMXN 101-7 The Torch. “We are unbelievably excited about the potential to
grow our audience and put Southern Torch into a better position to serve this region of
the state.” Southern Torch Business Manager Eloise Smith said. “We welcome our new
customers and readers to the Southern Torch family and look forward to serving them.”
The daily news for each county will continue to run on each of the newspapers’ current
websites. The online paywalls will be dropped, and online news consumption will be
free to the public. The midweek papers and the weekend papers will continue to run on
their current schedules. The acquisition also includes magazine products in each
county.
In the coming months, Southern Torch will develop a digital advertising and marketing
division to better serve our customers and offer cutting-edge products that the current
market demands.