MORRIS PUBLISHING GROUP - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Texas Aerospace Services
J. Tyler Morris Joins Morris Communications
J. Tyler Morris joined Morris Communications in 1989 as [----]. He since worked at the Lubbock (Texas) Avalanche-Journal, The St. Augustine (Fla.) Record and Grays Sporting Journal. He also served as Vice President of the Cowboy Publishing Group of equine magazine titles.
Tyler is currently chairman, president and chief executive officer of Texas Aerospace Services in Abilene, Texas.
Rebecca Gray started Gray's Sporting Journal on their kitchen table in the Fall of 1975. They wanted to publish a hunting and fishing magazine that a "thinking" audience would want to read. The young couple dared to create an intelligent, thoughtful national magazine that aspired to achieve a much higher standard than the mass-market sporting titles of that time. Morris Media Network acquired Gray's in 1989 and continues to live up Ed and Rebecca's standards for this unique publication, which The Washington Post once called "this little gem." Gray's is the original journal of fine sporting literature, art and photography.
Western Horseman Founded as The Western Horseman
Western Horseman began in 1936, which makes it one of the oldest horse magazines in existence. When the first issue was printed in January of 1936 near Lafayette, California, horses were being displaced by automobiles and tractors. Founding Editor and Publisher Paul Albert recognized this trend and started the magazine as a "voice for the horse." His inspiration is largely responsible for helping redefine the role of horses in America, transforming them from work to recreational animals that are enjoyed by millions today.
Western Horseman became a part of the Morris Media Network in September of 2001.
After months of analyzing, strategizing and pouring over 85 years of archives, along with some dirt, sweat and even a few tears-we're unveiling the new Western Horseman to our Western Horseman family. Along for the ride and wrangling us along the way was TJ Tucker. The award-winning creative director, whose roots run deep in ranching and the horse industry, helped us revise and craft the new look, page by page.
Starting with the cover, you'll notice our iconic Western Horseman masthead, tipping our hat to the past with that "tall in the saddle" font used back in the 1940s. Surrounded by a field of warm yellow, it should be familiar to those of us alive in the 1950s, '60s and '70s, and its uncluttered appearance allows your eyes to sink deeply into the image being portrayed. We've heard you want more, so you'll find more editorial pages, about 30 percent more-along with heavier paper stock (when supply chains catch up). We call it thud factor. We've lasered in on making the text more legible, opening up more white space and turning up the heat on our photography, allowing readers to be surprised and delighted with every turn of the page.
We're hoping our fresh look, clean lines, easy-to-read feature stories, and breathtaking photography all carry an aesthetically pleasing issue to enjoy and help remind you exactly why you've treasured your Western Horseman magazines all these years.
William A. "Bill" Wallace first published The Milepost in 1949 as a 72-page book filled with facts and practical information about traveling the rugged and remote Alaska Highway, the famous road built in 1942 in response to the Japanese occupation of Attu and Kiska islands in Alaska. Wallace named the guidebook after the mileage location posts "that filled such a vital need along the wilderness road." As Alaska tourism grew, so did The Milepost. In 1962, Wallace sold the book to the owner of the publication that was to become Alaska magazine. By 1975, the burgeoning resource book featured 498 pages.
Job Titles:
- Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Morris Communications Co. and Publisher of the Augusta Chronicle
William S. "Billy" Morris III is founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Morris Communications Co. and publisher of The Augusta Chronicle, the company's first newspaper.
Under Morris' leadership, MCC has grown to become a diversified, midsize media company operating across the United States and abroad. The privately held company owns and operates newspapers, radio stations, visitor publications, outdoor advertising, magazine and book publishing businesses and online services.
Morris is a leader in the media industry. He is a past member of the Associated Press board of directors and the Advertising Council Inc. and has been a president of the Newspaper Association of America. He received the first Bottom Line Award from the Media Management Club of the University of Georgia for his contributions to publications management education at the school and was inducted in the Mass Communication Hall of Fame at Texas Tech University School of Communications.
A strong advocate of giving back to the communities where MCC serves, Morris has received numerous awards including the Greater Augusta Arts Council President's Award for initiating a study that was instrumental in forming a downtown cultural arts corridor that enhanced revitalization of Augusta's riverfront.
Morris is chairman of the board of the Morris Museum of Art, which he established in memory of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. William S. Morris Jr. In memory of his father, he also established the Eminent Scholars Chair of Art at Augusta State University and the William S. Morris Chair of Newspaper Strategy and Management at the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. In memory of his mother, he has established the Florence Hill Morris Memorial Scholarship at Columbia Theological Seminary, where he currently serves on the board of trustees.
Morris was instrumental in starting the Augusta Futurity, the largest cutting horse competition east of the Mississippi, and he helped found the National Barrel Horse Association and is its chief executive officer.
A native of Augusta, Morris holds a bachelor of arts degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and was named the 1983 Outstanding Alumnus of the school's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Job Titles:
- General Manager of the St. Augustine
William S. Morris IV joins The St. Augustine (Fla.) Record
William S. "Will" Morris IV joined the company as general manager of The St. Augustine (Fla.) Record, going on to become general manager of Athens Magazine and publisher of the Athens Daily News and Athens Banner-Herald in Athens, Ga. In 1995, he returned to corporate headquarters as assistant to the president. He became president of Morris Communications Co. in December 1996 and was the third generation of the Morris family to hold this position. In 2013, Will lead the family in a new direction by creating and becoming CEO of Morris Venture Capital, a direct investment vehicle designed to explore new areas for locating and assisting businesses with potential for growth and expansion.
Job Titles:
- Executive
- Member of the Executives Team
- Chairman, Morris Communications Company
26-year old William S. Morris Jr, father of the current chairman of Morris Communications, hired as a bookkeeper for the Augusta Chronicle.
He would go on to be named publisher in 1937, purchase the newspaper in 1945 and remain involved as owner and manager until his passing in 1967.
William S. "Billy" Morris III, who delivered newspapers from horseback in his hometown as a boy, Southeastern Newspapers in 1956, a few days before his 22nd birthday, as assistant to the president. Southeastern Newspapers was a holding company formed by his father to manage the growing media empire now consisting of [xx newspapers], and is the precursor of today's Morris Media Network.
He became publisher of the Augusta Chronicle and [Augusta -] and president of the corporation 10 years later. In 1983 he became chairman, the role he serves today.
William S. Morris III established the Morris Museum of Art in memory of his parents William Shivers Morris, Jr,. and Florence Hill Morris. The museum, located on the banks of the Savannah River in Augusta, Georgia exists for the purpose of collecting the art of the American South and interpreting same in regional, national, and global contexts.
The establishing and maintaining of the museum, which is not managed as a part of the Morris Media Network, further illustrates the family's passion for sharing world-class content with their community: in the case of the Morris Media Network the media are magazines, books, websites, blogs, and more for travelers, equine enthusiasts, outdoors enthusiasts and more; in the case of the Morris Museum of Art the media are oil, watercolor, sculpture and more for museum visitors. In both cases the objective is to inform, educate and entertain in subjects about which the Morris family is passionate.