of the Atmore Advance

Staff Report

Brian Blackley, managing editor of The Messenger, has been named president of Atmore Newspapers, Inc., and publisher of the Atmore (Alabama) Advance and will begin his new duties this week.

"I am tremendously excited about the opportunity and, at the same time, saddened to leave Troy," Blackley said. "My family and I will greatly miss the friends we have made here and the hospitality and warmth we have felt from the community, our co-workers and our business associates."

Blackley said he, his wife Brandi and daughter Erin, 5, plan to immediately begin preparations for the move.

"Rick Reynolds, Messenger publisher, said he is excited for Brain and his family to have this opportunity. Brian’s knowledge and journalism experience was an asset to The Messenger and our community. We wish Brian and his family well in this move."

The coming weeks will be some of the hardest I have experienced in a long time," Blackley said. "Troy has been home for my wife, daughter and me for nearly two years and has had a profound affect on us all. We have come to love the community and its people and our leaving will not easily be done. We will miss Troy and Pike County and the people we have come to know, love and respect."

A native of Rolling Fork, Miss., Blackley joined the staff of The Messenger in 1999, as managing editor. He previously served as publisher of the Bossier Press-Tribune in Bossier City, La., and general manager of the Amory (MS) Advertiser.

The Atmore Advance is owned and operated by Boone Newspapers, Inc, as is The Messenger.