Birmingham Times
{{Short description|Newspaper in Birmingham, Alabama}}
{{use mdy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox newspaper
| name = The Birmingham Times
| image = Birmingham_Times.png
| image_size =
| caption = front page of BT, August 15, 2020
| type = Weekly newspaper
| owners =
| format =
| foundation = 1964
| headquarters = 115 3rd Avenue West Birmingham, Alabama
| editor = Barnett Wright
| publisher = Samuel Martin
| website = {{URL|birminghamtimes.com}}
}}
The Birmingham Times is a weekly African-American newspaper published in Birmingham, Alabama.
History
The newspaper was founded in 1964 by Jesse Lewis Sr. in order to give the local Black community a greater voice during the civil rights struggle.{{cite web | last=Poe | first=Kelly | title=Birmingham Times sold to non-profit foundation, names new management | website=al | date=2016-01-29 | url=https://www.al.com/business/2016/01/birmingham_times_sold_to_found.html | access-date=2020-08-15}}{{Cite book |last=Danky |first=James Philip |url=http://archive.org/details/africanamericanne00dank |title=African-American newspapers and periodicals : a national bibliography |last2=Hady |first2=Maureen E. |date=1998 |publisher=Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press |others=Mark Graham |isbn=978-0-674-00788-8 |pages=19}} Lewis wanted to provide an alternative to the News and Post-Herald, which only mentioned Black people in a negative light, and the Birmingham World, which Lewis felt only focused on discrimination.{{cite web |last1=Cobb |first1=Mark Hughes |title=Jesse Lewis looks back on a life full of success |url=https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/DA/20131103/News/605156331/TL |website=Tuscaloosa News |publisher=Gannett |access-date=15 August 2020}} The paper did not own its own printing press and sometimes struggled with getting their printer to print the paper because of its anti-segregation stance. Lewis stated that he wanted the Times to be "committed to covering the fullness and totality of life, not just the controversial and political."
The paper was sold to Lewis's son James in 1998 with Cheryl Eldridge staying on as the editor in chief.{{cite web | last=Diel | first=Stan | title=Birmingham Times publisher James Lewis remembered as hard-working advocate for black community | website=al | date=2013-04-08 | url=https://www.al.com/business/2013/04/birmingham_times_publisher_jam.html | access-date=2020-08-15}}{{cite web | title=Jesse Lewis Sr. | website=2020 Bicentennial Alabama African American History Book Site | date=2014-12-23 | url=https://alafricanamerican.com/2013-honorees/jesse-lewis-sr/ | access-date=2020-08-15}} In 2019 the paper was sold to The Foundation for Progress in Journalism (FPJ), a non-profit created honoring Lewis, with the aim to promote minorities advancement in journalism.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.birminghamtimes.com/}}
{{Authority control}}
{{African American press}}
Category:African-American newspapers
Category:Weekly newspapers published in the United States
Category:Newspapers established in 1964
Category:1964 establishments in Alabama
Category:Newspapers published in Alabama
{{Alabama-newspaper-stub}}