Josh Bean Email & Phone Number

Birmingham, Alabama, United States

I serve as the statewide prep sports coordinator for The Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times, Mobile’s Press- Register and al.com, all of which are part of AMG. My main responsibilities include managing the statewide preps website at highschoolsports.al.com, coordinating and planning coverage, taking the lead role in planning coverage of state championship events, and managing various social media accounts. I also assist with planning and management of our local sports report, recruiting and other topics. The company’s digital focus requires major emphasis on real-time newsgathering and increased use of video. I won first-place for best sports news in-depth coverage in the 2012 Alabama Press Association contest for a series of stories profiling Bryant-Jordan Scholarship winners.Joined the company in April 2006 as a local government and education reporter for the Press-Register in Mobile, moved to sports in 2008, took over current job in October 2012and assumed additional responsibilities in December 2013.

Looking for a list of the best high school football players in southwest Alabama? I might just know, thanks to shouldering the responsibility of managing coverage of more than 60 high school athletic programs in Mobile, Baldwin, Washington, Clarke, Escambia Conecuh, Choctaw and Marengo counties in southwest Alabama. I arrived at the Press-Register as a news reporter in April 2006, covering Fairhope, the Baldwin County Board of Education and general assignments, before moving to sports in August 2008.

Just days after Hurricane Katrina roared through the Gulf Coast, I arrived as the sports information director at Alcorn State University. The football team had just postponed its opening game.Amid that backdrop, I began coordinating media and publicity efforts for Alcorn State University, the oldest historically black land grant institution in the country. As a one-man gang in sports information, I quickly developed an ability to juggle multiple tasks and work on multiple assignments at the same time.

Along the banks of the Tennessee River, there's plenty for a sports editor to do. There's the 30-plus high schools in the coverage area and the University of North Alabama, a Division II powerhouse. Don't forget about coverage of Alabama and Auburn, the state's flagship universities. Oh, and there's also Northwest Shoals Community College and a handful of Dixie Youth World Series events that headline the youth sports scene.I arrived as Assistant Sports Editor and was elevated to Sports Editor in December 2002.

As a beat writer covering High Point University, I chronicled the babysteps of a program making a monumental leap from NCAA Division II to Division I. The job took me to Radford, Va. and Elon, N.C., as well as Morgantown, W.Va., and Lexington, Ken., as the High Point basketball program barnstormed in hopes of raising the school's national profile. In addition, I covered golf, which allowed me to cover Tiger Woods' victory at The Masters in 2001.

I worked primarily as a copy editor and designer, working on section fronts and inside pages, and I also assisted with coverage of high school sports and minor league baseball.

Small-town sports creates big-time fans. And readers of the Daily Mountain Eagle sought info on everything -- Alabama and Auburn football, local high school sports, NASCAR, youth league sports and the local golf scene.It made for interesting and rewarding time. I learned to juggle multiple assignments and responsibilities, while also honing my craft alongside some of the best journalists I've ever encountered.Spent three months at The Meridan (Miss.) Star in the spring of 1997, but quickly returned to Jasper. Originally hired as a sports reporter in May 1996.

Bachelor'S, Journalism

Activities and Societies: Graduate cum laude in 1996 from College of Journalism. Named Most Outstanding Editing Student in spring 1996..

Associate'S, Journalism

Activities and Societies: Student Government Association, Circle K service organization, yearbook staff and intramural sports