New ownership for 83 Degrees Media parent company Issue Media Group

83 Degrees Media parent company Issue Media Group (IMG) has new ownership.

Indiana-based media company Fourth Estate Inc. has purchased IMG from co-founders Paul Schutt and Brian Boyle. John Montgomery, president of Fourth Estate Inc., will serve as the new CEO. Boyle and Schutt will remain with the company they formed nearly 20 years ago to support the transition and the sales and client services departments. The rest of the IMG team, along with the business model and brand, will stay in place.

A longtime media executive, Montgomery’s unique background includes experience as a journalist and publisher and in technology, sales, philanthropy and community development.

“Brian and Paul were ahead of their time when they founded IMG, taking a solutions-journalism approach and concentrating on digital media channels,” Montgomery says in a press release. “The model they developed is even more relevant today, and I am thrilled and honored they have entrusted me to carry forward with the important work of IMG.”

"It has been a remarkable 20-year journey," Boyle says in a press release. "We are incredibly proud of what we have built and how communities across the country have embraced our approach to storytelling and solutions journalism as an important element of strengthening communities.”

“We were fortunate to connect with John, who has the ideal blend of experience as well as shared values to carry forward the IMG spirit,” Schutt says in a press release. “We look forward to working with him to advance IMG’s mission of strengthening local media." 

Boyle and Schutt founded IMG in 2005, launching Model D to cover small-scale, grassroots initiatives in Detroit. In a time of rapidly eroding local media capacity, IMG partners with local institutions across the nonprofit, government, and private sectors to support community-driven, solutions-oriented reporting on priority community issues. Most IMG publications cover topics such as economic development, neighborhood revitalization, entrepreneurship, health, sustainability, transportation, arts and culture, and social innovation.

In addition to 83 Degrees Media in Tampa Bay, IMG’s stable includes digital media outlets in communities across Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee.

“Especially with the decline of legacy media such as local newspapers, communities have identified voids in important coverage, challenges to be solved and stories to be told,” Montgomery says. “The focus of the company will be to continue to partner with community stakeholders and to fulfill the vital need for substantive local journalism.”

Montgomery comes from a family going back five generations in community journalism. He has 25 years of experience in newspapers, including 20 as an editor, publisher and group executive. He was vice president of the Kansas-based, family-owned Harris Enterprises when it was acquired by GateHouse Media, now Gannett. He led the merger and integration of properties, and as senior group publisher was responsible for newspapers, websites and digital marketing services in 16 markets across central and western Kansas and southeastern Colorado. For the past seven years, Montgomery has worked in sales and consulting for a technology company primarily serving the media industry.

Montgomery holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and an MBA from the University of Kansas. His deep commitment to community service and industry advancement is evident through his extensive board experience, including leadership roles on multiple foundation boards and as chairman of a community foundation. He currently serves on the board of the Porter County Community Foundation in Indiana.

Montgomery and his wife, Dia, also own The Press, a retail bookstore and coffee shop in Valparaiso, Indiana, where they live.