Carmage Walls

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Benjamin Carmage Walls (October 28, 1908 - November 22, 1998) was a newspaperman in the United States. He owned numerous community newspapers and founded Southern Newspapers.

Contents

Biography

Walls was born October 28, 1908, in Crisp County, Georgia, moving to Orlando, Florida, while still young where he attended high school. [1] He got started with the newspaper business when a stranger approached him as child and asked if he wanted a job "stuffing newspapers". [1] He took the job and worked up from being a "stuffer" inserting sentimental sections in the main newspaper until he was a "right-hand man" of the head man Charles E. Marsh. [1] From this start he went on to purchase and invest in newspaper businesses over large parts of the U.S. from Texas up to Ohio. [1] Walls was known nationally for his newspaper operations from around the 1930s. [2]

During his 60 some odd years in the newspaper business he owned various papers. He opposed George C. Wallace's segregationist policies. [3]

The Southern Newspaper Publishers Association presented a Carmage Walls Commentary Prize. [4] [5] As of 2022 Southern Newspapers underwrites the prize. Southern Newspapers' CEO is his daughter Lissa Walls Cribb [6]

In June 1953 he wrote a letter laying out some of his newspaper business philosophies starting by stating "wealth cannot be made by doing nothing" and declaring that newspapers are a "semi-public utility". [7]

Death and recognition

Walls died aged 90 at his Houston home on November 22, 1998, and was survived by his wife, Martha Anna Walls, four children, a sister and a brother. [8] After his death his widow and daughter carried forward his work in 2012 they owned and managed 15 newspaper operations, mostly in Texas. [2]

In 2008 he was inducted into the Alabama Newspaper Hall of Honor, [9] then in 2012 he was inducted into the Texas Newspaper Hall of Fame. [2]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Carmage Walls". The Montgomery Advertiser. 11 October 1964. p. 5. Retrieved 21 November 2022. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  2. 1 2 3 "Carmage Walls | Texas Newspaper Hall of Fame".
  3. ↑ "B. Carmage Walls, 90, who owned or..." Baltimore Sun.
  4. ↑ "Entries for the Carmage Walls Commentary Prize will continue to be accepted through the Memorial Day weekend: First-place carries a cash prize of $2,000; second-place winners will receive $1,000 (in each of two circulation brackets)". America's Newspapers.
  5. ↑ "Carmage Walls Commentary Prize honors courageous editorial writing". Southern Newspaper Publishers Association.
  6. ↑ "Southern Newspapers to underwrite Carmage Walls Commentary Prize, beginning again in 2022: First-place carries a cash prize of $2,000; second-place winners will receive $1,000 (in each of two circulation brackets)". Editor and Publisher.
  7. ↑ "The Corporate Philosophy of Carmage Walls". The Daily News.
  8. ↑ "Obituary for Benjamin Carmage Walls". The Seguin Gazette-Enterprise. 24 November 1998. p. 2. Retrieved 21 November 2022. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  9. ↑ "2010 Alabama Newspaper Hall of Honor".
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