Issue Media Group, Soapbox parent, sold to media veteran

The parent company of Soapbox Cincinnati has been sold. Issue Media Group, the Michigan-based business that owns Soapbox and 19 other digital publications in five states, has been purchased by Fourth Estate Inc.

John Montgomery, president of Fourth Estate Inc. and a long-time media executive, will serve as the new CEO. Issue Media Group co-founders Brian Boyle and Paul Schutt will remain with the company to support the transition as well as the sales and client services departments.

John MontgomeryIMG was founded by Boyle and Schutt in 2005, when they launched a publication called Model D to cover small-scale, grassroots initiatives in Detroit. The company has grown into a network of online media outlets practicing solutions-based and narrative journalism focused on innovative people, projects, businesses and organizations, publishing stories to foster civic engagement, improve understanding of key issues, amplify underserved voices, and build community attachment during a time of local media decline. 

Soapbox, launched in Cincinnati in 2008, was one of the early publications in the company’s stable, which now includes digital media outlets in communities across Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, and Florida.

"It has been a remarkable 20-year journey," Boyle says. "We are incredibly proud of what we have built and how communities across the country have embraced our approach to storytelling and solutions journalism as an important element of strengthening communities.”

Brian BoyleMontgomery’s background includes experience as a journalist and publisher as well as in technology, sales, philanthropy and community development. He comes from a family with five generations of experience in community journalism. He has 25 years of experience in newspapers, including 20 as an editor, publisher and group executive. He was vice president of the Kansas-based, family-owned Harris Enterprises when it was acquired by GateHouse Media, now Gannett. He led the merger and integration of properties, and as senior group publisher was responsible for newspapers, websites and digital marketing services in 16 markets across central and western Kansas and southeastern Colorado. For the past seven years, Montgomery has worked in sales and consulting for a technology company primarily serving the media industry.

“Especially with the decline of legacy media such as local newspapers, communities have identified voids in important coverage, challenges to be solved and stories to be told,” Montgomery says. “The focus of the company will be to continue to partner with community stakeholders and to fulfill the vital need for substantive local journalism.”

IMG's work has been recognized and supported by leading journalism organizations nationally, including INC Magazine, Knight Foundation, Columbia Journalism Review, Facebook, Lenfest Institute, Google, Solutions Journalism Network, Ground Source, and Society for Professional Journalists.

Paul SchuttMontgomery and his wife, Dia, also own The Press, a retail bookstore and coffee shop in Valparaiso, Ind., where they live.

“We were fortunate to connect with John, who has the ideal blend of experience as well as shared values to carry forward the IMG spirit,” Schutt says. “We look forward to working with him to advance IMG’s mission of strengthening local media."