Carmage Walls
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.
Biography[edit]
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[edit]
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]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d "Carmage Walls". The Montgomery Advertiser. 11 October 1964. p. 5. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
- ^ a b c "Carmage Walls | Texas Newspaper Hall of Fame".
- ^ "B. Carmage Walls, 90, who owned or..." Baltimore Sun.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Carmage Walls Commentary Prize honors courageous editorial writing". Southern Newspaper Publishers Association.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "The Corporate Philosophy of Carmage Walls". The Daily News.
- ^ "Obituary for Benjamin Carmage Walls". The Seguin Gazette-Enterprise. 24 November 1998. p. 2. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
- ^ "2010 Alabama Newspaper Hall of Honor".
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