Nearly 20 years after founding Issue Media Group (IMG), founders Brian Boyle and Paul Schutt will be welcoming new ownership. IMG is a Michigan-based network of digital publications serving 20 communities in five states.
John Montgomery, president of Fourth Estate Inc., will serve as the new CEO. IMG 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. The rest of the IMG team, along with the business model and brand, will stay in place.
A longtime media executive, Montgomery’s unique background includes experience as a journalist and publisher as well as in technology, sales, philanthropy, and community development.
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Brian Boyle, Issue Media Group Co-founder“Brian and Paul were ahead of their time when they founded IMG, taking a solutions-journalism approach and concentrating on digital media channels,” Montgomery said. “The model they developed is even more relevant today, and I am thrilled and honored they have entrusted me to carry forward with the important work of IMG.”
"It has been a remarkable 20-year journey," said Boyle. "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.”
“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,” said Schutt. “We look forward to working with him to advance IMG’s mission of strengthening local media."
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Paul Schutt, Issue Media Group Co-founderIMG was founded by Boyle and Schutt in 2005, who launched Model D to cover small-scale, grassroots initiatives in Detroit. In a time of rapidly eroding local media capacity, IMG partners with local institutions across the nonprofit, government, and private sectors to support community-driven, solutions-oriented reporting on priority community issues. Most IMG publications cover topics such as economic development, neighborhood revitalization, entrepreneurship, health, sustainability, transportation, arts and culture, and social innovation.
Today, IMG’s stable includes digital media outlets in communities across Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, and Florida.
“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 said. “The focus of the company will be to continue to partner with community stakeholders and to fulfill the vital need for substantive local journalism.”
About John Montgomery
John Montgomery comes from a family going back five generations 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.
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John Montgomery, new owner of Issue Media Group
Montgomery holds both a bachelor’s degree in journalism and an MBA from the University of Kansas. His deep commitment to community service and industry advancement is evident through his extensive board experience, including leadership roles on multiple foundation boards and as chairman of a community foundation. He currently serves on the board of the Porter County Community Foundation in Indiana.
Montgomery and his wife, Dia, also own The Press, a retail bookstore and coffee shop in Valparaiso, Indiana, where they live.
About Issue Media Group
Incorporated in 2005 in Detroit, Michigan, Issue Media Group (IMG) operates a network of online media outlets leveraging the power of solutions-based and narrative journalism to enhance attachment to place and inspire community change. IMG publications connect readers to their communities’ most visionary and innovative people, projects, businesses, and organizations, fostering civic engagement, improving understanding of key issues, amplifying underserved voices, and building community attachment during a time of local media decline.
IMG works with like-minded stakeholders across public, private, nonprofit, and grassroots organizations whose values and missions align with ours through an underwriting model of publishing. Our journalists connect with community stakeholders through regular listening sessions designed to build trust and shape authentic community stories.
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.