South Florida print publication takes on new name, expands into Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties

SOUTH FLORIDA – After 18 years as the leading news source in Broward’s black community, the Broward Times has changed its name to the South Florida Times, and has expanded its reach into Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

To facilitate this expansion, the newspaper has hired The Miami Herald to print and distribute each publication throughout the region.

Beginning on Friday, Feb. 15, the South Florida Times will be available as a stand-alone newspaper in Publix Super Markets throughout Miami-Dade and Broward counties, at numerous locations in Palm Beach, and will soon be available in other outlets throughout the region.

“We are excited about the opportunity to expand our reach throughout South Florida. The quality of printing and the strength of distribution that the Herald brings are simply phenomenal. Residents of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach are passionate about receiving news that covers the region and now they will get it,’’ said Robert G. Beatty, publisher of the South Florida Times, who is also a well-known corporate attorney, community leader and former general counsel & vice president of public affairs for The Miami Herald. “Our professional staff will provide news and commentary that matters most to South Floridians, in a way that is unique, thorough, and exciting.”

David Landsberg, publisher of The Miami Herald, agreed.

“The South Florida Times aims to fill a unique niche in the market, and to serve an important segment of our community,’’ Landsberg said. “We’re pleased to be partnering with this first-rate team of professionals.”

Terry Whitney, vice president of circulation for The Miami Herald, said, “We are pleased to be able to help the South Florida Times expand their distribution footprint throughout South Florida to reach a larger target audience. We are confident our distribution and marketing expertise will help them grow circulation in this culturally diverse and growing market.”
The Fort Lauderdale-based paper was created in 1989. In April 2007, Beatty, who is also the partner in charge of Florida offices at the Adorno & Yoss law firm in Miami, set his sights on changing the look and content of the newspaper, increasing circulation and eventually expanding into Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

Beatty hired Bradley C. Bennett, a former Miami Herald assistant city editor, as the paper’s executive editor, and retained Elgin Jones as an investigative reporter, who wrote for the Times under previous ownership.

“A key mission of this newspaper is to form a bridge between people of different cultures and unite them by pointing out what they have in common,’’ Bennett said. “Economic development, for example, is just as important in Liberty City as it is in northwest Fort Lauderdale and Boynton Beach. Unfair immigration policies affecting Haitian Americans are just as important in Richmond Heights as they are in Pompano Beach and Delray Beach. The economic and climate factors that have attracted large numbers of Jamaican immigrants to South Florida are as poignant in Royal Palm Beach as they are in Miramar and North Miami Beach.’’

The newspaper has continued to break news in the black community that daily newspapers, including The Miami Herald and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, frequently follow with their own stories. News of financial improprieties by the Broward Black Elected Officials, Inc.; Broward County’s unexplained firing of Alicia Antone, the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center director; the use of DNA evidence to solve the Angela Savage murder in Deerfield Beach; the soil contamination in the Durrs neighborhood of Fort Lauderdale; and many other developments first appeared in the newspaper’s pages. Only later did these stories appear in mainstream publications.

Beatty made two other hires from The Miami Herald: Michele Green, a former advertising manager, and Mia Sanks, a former advertising sales representative for that newspaper. The two women have aggressively sought and obtained local and national advertising for the South Florida Times. Beatty also hired graphic artist Crystal Thomas, who has dramatically improved the look and feel of the newspaper and its website, SFLTimes.com. With these people in place, the newspaper, which officially changed its name to South Florida Times on Jan. 25, will continue its theme of “elevating the dialogue’’ across the region.

“We believe that the African Diaspora in South Florida, those descendants of enslaved Africans, must come together to discuss solutions for the problems they have in common in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties,’’ Bennett said. “At the same time, we will continue to elevate the dialogue between the black community and the larger community about who we are, and what matters most to all of us.’’