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Founded in 1887 by C.A. Berbeck, The Demopolis Times has been owned by reputable newspeople for more than a century. Owners include Edward S. Cornish, Ben and Libba George, Hollis Curl and Jim McKay. In 1979, Boone Newspapers Inc., founded by James B. Boone, Jr., the son of Pulitzer Prize winner and former publisher of the Tuscaloosa News, Buford Boone, purchased the newspaper. The Boone family, via Boone Newsmedia, Inc, owned and operated the paper until May 1, 2025, when it sold the Demopolis Times and three other Alabama newspapers to JM Media Group, LLC, owned by Jeff and Michelle Schumacher. The Schumachers have a combined 45 years of experience in the newspaper industry.

The Demopolis Times and its staff have traditionally been involved in numerous civic projects and have taken on leadership roles with the arts in the community. It has also been a consistent winner in the Alabama Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.

Though the Demopolis Times began as a daily paper, following the decline of printed newspapers over the last twenty years, it has been printed weekly only on Wednesdays for the last several years. As the rise of digital news and ease of access to news on smartphones began to take over, local media companies have fallen in droves, with even many of the larger publications such as the Birmingham News transforming in nature or shuttering entirely since 2010.

After evaluating the status and business outlook of the Demopolis Times, JM Media Group has decided to close down the publication. This issue, June 4, 2025, will be the last. 

 

 

 

 

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