Black newspaper publisher Alexis Scott’s illustrious career as a journalist, publisher and thought-leader has been celebrated and recognized by Atlantans and industry experts around the world. Most recently in a Fox5 Atlanta News special feature, the legendary influencer was recognized for her lifetime of commitment to delivering the news with African-American perspective to a diverse population of readers and television viewers.
“Perspective is what distinguished the Black Press from the White Press. I don’t really want to call it the White Press, but it’s white-owned … or whatever you want to call it,” Scott explained candidly.
While still a rising star in mainstream media with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Cox Enterprises, the celebrated media expert remained true to her calling and stepped up to the plate at the Atlanta Daily World, one of the most renowned black publications in the nation, to steer the family-owned publication into the new world. She launched the paper’s entry into digital media in 1999.
“The Atlanta Daily World was a major diet for Black news consumers … and journalism today – good journalism is more important than ever. … From the beginning, the mission of the ADW (and the Black Press as a whole) was and is to inform, educate, entertain and inspire.”
Scott, now a media consultant and recently retired star of the controversial news magazine, the “Georgia Gang,” enjoyed a successful 16-year career at the helm of the ADW, the nation’s first black-owned daily newspaper which was founded by her grandfather William A. Scott ll in 1928.
Scott said in a 2019 interview that she joined the “Georgia Gang” in 2002 in part to promote the Atlanta Daily World and elevate the causes and accomplishments of organizations and people that otherwise would get little notice. “I never had any deep ambition to become a TV personality,” she said.
But the reluctant celebrity’s remarkable influence on the quality of media content from print to broadcast to digital transcends industry expectations regarding her impact on the quality of information she’s delivered on the iconic platform.
“I’ve always admired Alexis and was honored to work with her at Real Times Media, the parent company of the Atlanta Daily World,” said Roz Edward, managing editor of atlantadailyworld.com. “But that admiration grew into inspiration when I witnessed her in a room full of powerful male publishers stand her ground and explain to them the impact of the Black Press past and present … and she was perfectly poised while she did it.”
“Maynard Jackson called me when I took over and asked me if I wanted to sell it, he was interested,” reveals the newspaper heiress. “I told him ‘we’re not there yet.”
Scott, who recently married producer and storyboard artist Brian McKissick has two sons from two previous marriages. “Number three is my lucky charm,” she said. “Although I have been divorced for 20 years, I never closed up shop. I was optimistic someone was out there for me.”
Scott is currently working with her husband to produce a feature film based on her father’s experiences as a photographer with his unit during World War II. “His was the only black unit present at the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp,” she explains adding, “I am also writing my memoir which focuses on my journey in breaking barriers in ‘mainstream’ media to saving a family newspaper legacy.”
Ms. Scott has received numerous awards and honors including being inducted into the 2019 Social Justice Journalism Award of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus; the 2018 Women’s Hall of Fame of the Atlanta Business League, the 2017 Confidant Woman Award, 2015 Women’s History Month award from Women Flying High and the Georgia Coalition of Black Women.
About Post Author
