As I write this, I am on a plane flying back to Alabama from Washington, D.C., where I’ve spent much of the last week on Capitol Hill. The reason for the trip was to introduce our new Washington Correspondent, Alex Angle to members of Alabama’s congressional delegation and their staffs. Those meetings went really well and, while I’m completely worn out from slogging through the halls of Congress, I’m more energized than ever about the future of Alabama Daily News.
Hiring a reporter based in Washington to cover the Alabama delegation has been a goal of mine since founding ADN seven years ago. Some time back, including when I worked in Congress, most every major state news outlet had a reporter in D.C. covering the delegation. That has dwindled to none over the years, which is a shame. Our delegation is involved in some consequential work in Washington and it’s important that residents back home understand what’s happening, why it matters and what’s next with their elected representatives – and not just from Facebook posts and press releases. With her educational and professional background, Alex is well suited for the task of thoroughly reporting on what our senators and representatives are up to, how they vote and where they stand on issues critical to Alabama. You can look forward to seeing her work here in the pages of ADN and on the air at Alabama Public Television’s Capitol Journal.
Of course, this comes on the heels of Trisha Powell Crain coming on board ADN as our Senior Education Reporter. Trish is well known as the state’s premiere education reporter, having made a name for herself founding the Alabama School Connection and then building up the Education Lab at AL.com over the last six years. It’s hard to overstate how big of an issue education is in Alabama and we are thrilled to offer readers access to Trish’s data-rich reporting and analysis.
These staff additions will only enhance the already high quality content that Alexander Willis and Mary Sell produce on a daily basis covering state government. I’m really proud of our news team’s growth and excited about the future.
Growth is fun, but it ain’t easy. Or cheap. People often ask me how they can help support the work we are doing to improve Alabama’s media landscape. There are three basic ways: advertising via the newsletter, website or podcast; sponsoring an event like our upcoming Legislative Issues Breakfast series; and becoming a paid ADN Insider subscriber. ADN Business & Events Manager Meredith Wills would love to talk to you about all these!
When you advertise with Alabama Daily News, you’re doing more than connecting your organization’s message to the decision-makers that matter in a direct and unique way. You are contributing to our ability to provide thorough, accurate and non-biased news on Alabama government and politics – something I hope you’ll agree is essential to the functionality of our state.
Thank you to all those who have contributed to ADN’s growth over the last seven years. Here’s to many more.