Panolian sale completed

By David Magee

It’s now official: The Panolian has a new owner.
The sale of Panola County’s oldest business from owners John and Rupert Howell to Batesville Newsmedia LLC. was recently completed.
Batesville Newsmedia, LLC. is a subsidiary of Boone Newspapers, Inc. (BNI) and Carpenter Newsmedia, LLC (CNL) of Tuscaloosa, Ala. and Natchez. BNI and CNL own and manage newspapers, websites and community magazines in similar sized communities in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee, Texas, Michigan, Mississippi, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia.
Other Mississippi newspapers under BNI management are in Oxford, Brookhaven, Natchez, Picayune, Poplarville, Prentiss and Vicksburg. The companies also own and manage a statewide news website, magnoliastatelive.com.
David Magee is a co-owner of Batesville Newsmedia and a Vice President of BNI and will serve as President of the company that runs The Panolian and its other media assets.
“We are bullish on Batesville and Panola County,” said Magee, a native of Oxford who also serves concurrently as President of Oxford Newsmedia, LLC., including The Oxford Eagle and Oxford Magazine. “Our company is investing in the community because we believe it has a bright future.”
Magee said the Howell family deserves thanks for the service they have provided for so many years. He said the The Panolian has a strong future because of the many dedicated employees who remain and others who will be recruited to build the newspaper’s next generation of leadership.
“Our readership is strong,” Magee said. “We have lots of work to do in transition, but we have a solid platform to build from.”
Magee, a graduate of Ole Miss, is the author of a dozen books including The Education of Mr. Mayfield and How Toyota Became #1, named a Top 10 business book of the year by the American Library Association. Previously, he was a vice president at Alabama Media Group, which published The Birmingham News, The Mobile Press-Register, The Hunstville Times and AL.com, and managing editor of The International Business Times in New York.
Magee and his wife, Kent, have contributed and helped raise funds in the last year to start a new center for alcohol and drug education at Ole Miss. The William Magee Center for Wellness Education, scheduled to open in 2019, is named after David’s late son William who died of an accidental drug overdose in 2013.
They have already raised almost $1 million for the new center. Magee speaks to many students on the university campus and to area schools on drug and alcohol education.