Alabama's rural "Black Belt" region

Hadley Hitson

Hadley Hitson covers the rural South and the Black Belt communities in Alabama for the Montgomery Advertiser, a daily newspaper in the state capital. Hadley previously worked as a freelance education reporter for Fortune magazine, while the media outlet launched its first annual list of the Best Online MBA Programs. As a Fortune editorial intern, she authored articles on the technology, business, and politics beats. Hadley is a graduate of the University of Mississippi, where she was the managing editor of the university’s award-winning, student-run newspaper, The Daily Mississippian. She has also interviewed a member of the presidential Cabinet, covered the relocation of a 114-year-old Confederate monument, and appeared on the The Paul Finebaum Show for the SEC Network.

Montgomery Advertiser

The Montgomery Advertiser is the main news source in Alabama’s capital city. The newspaper began publication in 1829 and as called The Planter’s Gazette. It became the Montgomery Advertiser in 1833 and emerged as the leading newspaper of the new Confederate states by 1861. Today, it’s owned by Gannett and is part of the USA TODAY Network.