Alabama Media Group’s social brand division Red Clay Media aims to entertain, inform and share stories through powerful identity content. It’s a Southern Thing has cultivated a highly engaged audience of more than 1.2 million on Facebook and nearly 100,000 on Instagram, with the spin-off Facebook show, So True Y’all, garnering an average of 200.8 million views.

Alabama Media Group launched Red Clay Media in 2017 as a video-driven revenue stream. It began with videos created in the newsroom that inspired engagement from their readers. Today it is a thriving video arm with three distinct brands that focus on feel good, inspirational and comedic southern content.

Kat Duncan spoke with Elizabeth Hoekenga Whitmire, senior director of audience development for Alabama Media Group and Red Clay Media, to learn more about how they've conquered what many newsrooms are still struggling with – making money with video content.

In May, New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet spoke before the INMA World Congress of News Media audience and shared his dismal prediction concerning the future of journalism-that most local newspapers were going to die in the next five years.

"The greatest crisis in American journalism is the death of local news," he said. "Their economic model is gone."

It's true that the traditional economic model may be gone, but many local and national newspapers are using their ambition and creativity to explore new and exciting business models with hopes that it will create sustainable revenue for many years to come.

E&P spoke with several of these newsrooms to discuss their clever ideas.

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