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Local news editor affirms community journalism matters and is worth the fight
For long-time journalist Brent Maze, success isn’t measured in the number of awards he’s won or the titles he’s held. He measures the success in stories he’s written connecting neighbors, holding local leaders accountable and giving voice to communities.
“People sometimes think local news is small news,” Maze said. “But it’s the news that affects your life every single day. It’s the stories of your neighbors, your schools and your town. That’s what I’ve always loved about it.”
His career has always circled back to one guiding light: that community journalism matters. Maze took over as publisher of The Selma Times Journal in March 2024 and overall has spent more than 20 years in newsrooms in Alabama and Mississippi. His news never took him to national TV networks or big dailies instead, it brought him to local communities, where headlines are about high school sports, local politics and community events.
Maze is from a small town outside of the Birmingham area. Growing up in Kimberly, Alabama, he learned the value of community. After high school, he went to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he discovered his passion for journalism. “I didn’t get into this business for fame,” he explained. “I got into it because I saw how newspapers brought people together.”
Maze started his career in 2003 as sports editor for The Leeds News. For three years, he covered local sports and the towns athletes. Looking in it may have looked like small-town reporting, but to Maze, it meant something more.
“When I covered a football game, I wasn’t just writing about a score,” he said. “I was writing about a community event, something that brought hundreds of people together on a Friday night. That’s powerful.”
From Leeds, Maze moved on to Boone Newsmedia in 2006, where he was named managing editor of multiple weekly newspapers. These newsrooms may have been small in size, but their impact on the community rippled to every corner.
Maze’s dedication to local journalism comes at a time when local papers are disappearing at an alarming rate. A March 2025 article by Luke Bouma of Cord Cutters News found the U.S. is losing an average of two local newspapers per week, leaving behind a void where residents lack access to basic information about their communities.
In smaller towns the impact is significant. Without these local papers, voters aren’t informed during election season, misinformation spreads and civic engagement suffers. “If people don’t know what’s going on at city hall or in the schools, they lose a sense of connection,” Maze said. “And when that happens, democracy suffers.”
Journalism leaders agree with this concern. The organization Hilaris Publisher, a scientific organization that specializes in stats and community surveys have discovered that local publishers like Maze are on the front line of preserving civic life.
This shows why local newspapers remain essential. Scholars argue that journalism in places like Selma documents daily life and preserves collective memory. As historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. put it in a PBS interview, “Local newspapers are keepers of the public record, the first draft of history.”
According to a Pew Research Center article from May 2024, newspaper print circulation in the U.S. has fallen steadily in the past 10 years, and advertising revenue has dropped by more than half since 2008 and publishers are more focused on their digital content. For Maze, this is a reality he navigates daily. In the Pew Research article “Americans’ changing relationship with local news” although news consumption has become mainly digital, U.S. adults still see value in local outlets. Most Americans agree that local news outlets are important to the well-being of their local community, reported Pew.
Maze wears many hats in his news roles and in 2015 when he moved to Mississippi made a transition to become the publisher of The Newton County Appeal, where he served the community for nine years. He was responsible for the entire operation, overseeing advertising, editorial, production, circulation and community outreach. “That’s where I really learned how much goes into keeping a local paper alive,” Maze said. “It’s not just about the news. It’s about making sure the business side is strong enough to support the newsroom.”
Maze returned home to Alabama to become the publisher of The Selma Times Journal last year. The paper has deep roots within a community that has significant history, especially with the Civil Rights Movement.
“Selma is known all over the nation for its role in the Civil Rights Movement,” Maze said. “That adds a special responsibility to our work here. We’re not just telling today’s stories, we’re connected to a much larger history.”
He has seen the rise of social media, the shift to online subscriptions and the growing financial pressures facing local papers. Now newspaper publishers face a new challenge: how to handle artificial intelligence in the newsroom.
Some journalists fear AI is a threat to journalism, but Maze has a more open viewpoint of the new technology. He said he sees AI as a tool, something journalists can use to streamline their work. “I don’t believe AI can replace reporters, especially in community journalism,” Maze said. “But I do think AI can help us. I’m open to using it to organize notes, create outlines and handle some of the behind-the-scenes work that takes up a lot of time. That way, our reporter can focus on talking to people, asking questions and telling stories.”
Maze’s outlook on AI aligns with other conversations in the industry. According to journalists.org, more than half of newsroom leaders worldwide are currently testing AI tools for tasks like transcription, research and summarizing, but almost all have established a firm stance.
As he settled in his role at Selma, Maze focused on balancing tradition with innovation. He wanted to maintain the heart of the community reporting while finding ways to adapt to modern technology. “I want this paper to be something people are proud of,” he said. “Whether they’re holding the print edition in their hands or scrolling on their phones, I want them to feel like their stories matter.”
Through Maze’s more than 20 years in community journalism, he may not have chased national stories, but his impact has been felt by members of the communities he’s lived and worked in, and for him, that’s the purpose of journalism.
“Every story we tell, no matter how small it might seem, is part of the bigger story of the community,” Maze reflected. “And if I can help keep that story alive, then I know I’ve done my job.”
Maze is headed on yet another journey of his storied career, heading back to The Magnolia State where he will become the publisher of The Greenwood Commonwealth in Greenwood, Mississippi.
In a world where news is often fast, fractured and impersonal, Maze represents something steady and enduring: a belief that local journalism is worth the fight.
