The chairman and CEO of AIM Media Texas, which owns The Monitor, the Brownsville Herald and Valley Morning Star newspapers in the Rio Grande Valley, received a prestigious award in Colorado Springs on Monday in recognition of his contributions to the industry and his commitment to the community.
Jeremy L. Halbreich won the 2021 Inland Press Foundation Distinguished Service Award at the annual meeting of America’s Newspapers on Monday. The event marked the 30th year that the foundation has given the award to newspaper industry leaders and executives.
“Jeremy is one of the giants of the news industry — both personally and professionally,” Inland Press Foundation President Marc Wilson said. “He has excelled at all levels of the business whether it be metropolitan or community publications.”
Halbreich began his career at the Dallas Morning News where he worked for 24 years, including the last 10 years as president and general manager. He stepped down to start American Consolidated Media, a company that grew to own 110 publications in 10 states.
Halbreich then sold that company and became chairman, president and CEO of Sun-Times Media (STM) in Chicago. After selling that company to a group of local Chicago investors, he founded AIM Media Texas, which operates 50 publications in Texas, Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia.
“He makes lifelong friends and admirers wherever he goes,” Wilson, the chairman emeritus of TownNews.com, said. “His contributions to the Inland Press Foundation and the industry have been immeasurable.”
Halbreich has served on Inland’s board of directors for many years and was elected the foundation’s president in 2017. He served in that role until he was elected chairman in 2020.
Tom Slaughter, the foundation’s executive director, praised Halbreich’s leadership and contributions to the nonprofit.
“Like all of us in this industry, the last years have been tumultuous for our organization,” Slaughter said. “During this time, Jeremy played a crucial role in the successful merger of the Inland Press Association and the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association, creating America’s Newspapers.”
Over the last 40 years, the foundation has played an active role in organizing and funding programs to provide research and educational services to the American newspaper industry, with a special focus on independent and family owned newspapers.
“I cannot think of a more important time in the history of our industry for each and every one of us to continue our work devoted to the preservation and continued success of our news and information outlets,” Halbreich said in his acceptance speech in which he thanked his longtime associate Rick Starks and everyone he’s worked with since his time at DMN. “Collectively, we remain critical and essential.”
