Exit Interview: Kelly Ann Scott and the Digital Reinvention of Alabama Media Group

Local News Matters

As Kelly Ann Scott leaves her position as VP of Content for Alabama Media Group to assume the role of Executive Editor and Senior Vice President at the Houston Chronicle, she shares her insights on digital transformation in local journalism in one of the most fascinating examples of digital transformation. Scott discusses the strategic reorganization of newsrooms into mission-driven teams, the importance of impactful journalism, and the evolution of Alabama Media Group into a digital-first media company. She emphasizes the necessity of product thinking, audience engagement, and the balance between serving current and future audiences. Scott also highlights the significance of empathy and careful decision-making in newsroom leadership, advocating for a focus on solvable problems and innovative solutions.

Episode chapters:

(03:01) - Background of transformation at Alabama Media Group

(08:19) - Success, Pulitzers, serving multiple audiences and making daily choices

(12:24) - Organizing the newsroom to get beyond the daily grind

(19:05) - The innovation cycle: sprints, measurement, current vs. new audiences

(25:19) - Fans, merchandise and brands

(27:10) - Concierge news service

(29:23) - Product thinking and saying goodbye to print

(32:46) - Transformation for smaller mid-sized news organizations

(34:33) - Care and feeding of the team: empathy, listening, not overloading them

(39:33) - Rapid fire questions

Links:

• Kelly Ann Scott: LinkedIn, Twitter/X

• Alabama Media Group, AL.com, Alabama Education Lab, This is Alabama, People of Alabama, It’s a Southern Thing, SEC Shorts, Reckon News, Just Like Mama Used to Say

• Houston Chronicle

• Local News Matters: web, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

• Colorado Press Association: web, Twitter, Facebook

• Tim Regan-Porter: bio, Twitter

For show notes, transcripts, newsletter sign-up and past guests on the Local News Matters podcast, please visit localnewsmatterspodcast.com or lnmpod.com.

Past guests on the Local News Matters podcast include: Sara Lomax and S. Mitra Kalita (URL Media), Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro (National Trust for Local News), Mike Rispoli and Richard Young (via When the People Decide), Sarabeth Berman (American Journalism Project), Rabbi Hillel Goldberg and Shana Goldberg (Intermountain Jewish News), Lyndsay C. Green (via The Journalism Salute), Rashad Mahmood and Mark Glaser (New Mexico Local News Fund), Christian Vanek and Barbara Hardt (The Mountain-Ear), Dan Grech (BizHack), Zack Richner (Easy Tax Credits), Tracie Powell (Pivot Fund), Dan Oshinsky (Inbox Collective), Linda Shapley (via What Works), Yehong Zhu and Jake Seaton (Zette, Column), Charity Huff (January Spring), Joaquin Alvarado and Dave Perry (Aurora Sentinel), Steve Waldman (Rebuild Local News), Maritza Félix (Conecta Arizona), Michael Bolden (American Press Institute), Jeff Roberts and Corey Hutchins (CFOIC, Colorado College), Eve Pearlman and Erica Anderson (Spaceship Media), Jennifer Brandel (Hearken, Democracy SOS), Corey Hutchins with Bay Edwards, Todd Chamberlain and Raleigh Burleigh (Sopris Sun).