Digital Asset Management for local journalism & media publishing:
Company: Starnes Media
Industry: Local journalism, community news & digital publishing
Company Size: Multi-publication regional media group
Location: Birmingham, Alabama, United States
About Starnes Media
Starnes Media operates multiple community newspapers across the Birmingham, Alabama region, producing local journalism for print, web, and social platforms. Their team manages a high volume of photos, videos, and editorial assets every month—from community events and sports coverage to advertising campaigns and digital newsletters.
With overlapping coverage areas, freelance contributors, and both print and digital publishing cycles, Starnes Media needs a system that keeps content organized, searchable, and accessible across departments—without slowing down daily reporting.
The challenge:
Before switching to Stockpress, Starnes Media relied on PhotoShelter alongside shared drives. Over time, that setup became increasingly difficult to manage—especially with multiple newspapers, overlapping story coverage, and teams working across editorial, advertising, and social.
The biggest issues were practical, day-to-day problems:
- Slow loading folders and unreliable search
- Limited metadata and caption management
- No easy way for one image to live in multiple places at once
- Complicated access for freelancers and contributors
- High costs and a frustrating renewal experience
- A migration process that made it hard to take files and folder structures with them
As a result, finding assets took longer than it should—and in some cases, uploading and organizing assets didn’t happen at all because it was too time-consuming.
The solution:
Stockpress gave Starnes Media a modern Digital Asset Management platform that fits how newsrooms actually work: fast-moving, collaborative, and built around content reuse across multiple channels.
From the start, Stockpress stood out for:
- Transparent pricing that’s easy to understand
- Unlimited user access across teams
- A clean, modern interface
- Fast, human support
- Hands-on migration help to move a large archive without losing structure
Once the team was up and running, Stockpress became the place where editorial, advertising, and social teams could all work from the same organized library—without sharing logins, hunting through folder trees, or losing track of who uploaded what.
Key workflows that made an immediate difference included:
- Assets living in multiple folders at once (so overlapping coverage doesn’t mean moving files around)
- Metadata + captions stored with the asset for print and digital publishing
- Guest upload links for freelancers and seasonal contributors (like sports photographers)
- Live share links that don’t need to be recreated every time files are added
- Link cards to keep external references (like video embeds) connected to the right story assets
“Stockpress is affordable, accessible, and up to date. And the team actually cares.”
– Savannah Schmidt, Multimedia Journalist, Starnes Media
Results:
With Stockpress, Starnes Media now has:
- A centralized newsroom asset library: Photos, videos, and archives live in one searchable workspace—organized in a way that supports multiple publications and overlapping coverage.
- Faster “find what we need” moments: Editors and team members can search by metadata, date, and context—without waiting on slow folders or unreliable results.
- Better caption and metadata workflows: Assets stay publication-ready, with captions and credits retained when downloading for print or digital use.
- Smoother collaboration across teams: Editorial, advertising, and social can work from the same source of truth with clear visibility into ownership and organization.
- Simple intake for freelancers and interns: Guest upload links make it easy to collect large galleries quickly while keeping access controlled.
“For Starnes Media, Stockpress isn’t just about storing photos—it’s about keeping journalism organized, searchable, and ready for every platform.”
– Savannah Schmidt, Multimedia Journalist – Starnes Media
Want to try Stockpress for yourself? It’s free to get started, with paid packages available from $79 per month.
Get started for free
— No credit card required. See the difference in minutes.
February 17, 2026
Digital Asset Management for local journalism & media publishing:
Company: Starnes Media
Industry: Local journalism, community news & digital publishing
Company Size: Multi-publication regional media group
Location: Birmingham, Alabama, United States
About Starnes Media
Starnes Media operates multiple community newspapers across the Birmingham, Alabama region, producing local journalism for print, web, and social platforms. Their team manages a high volume of photos, videos, and editorial assets every month—from community events and sports coverage to advertising campaigns and digital newsletters.
With overlapping coverage areas, freelance contributors, and both print and digital publishing cycles, Starnes Media needs a system that keeps content organized, searchable, and accessible across departments—without slowing down daily reporting.
The challenge:
Before switching to Stockpress, Starnes Media relied on PhotoShelter alongside shared drives. Over time, that setup became increasingly difficult to manage—especially with multiple newspapers, overlapping story coverage, and teams working across editorial, advertising, and social.
The biggest issues were practical, day-to-day problems:
- Slow loading folders and unreliable search
- Limited metadata and caption management
- No easy way for one image to live in multiple places at once
- Complicated access for freelancers and contributors
- High costs and a frustrating renewal experience
- A migration process that made it hard to take files and folder structures with them
As a result, finding assets took longer than it should—and in some cases, uploading and organizing assets didn’t happen at all because it was too time-consuming.
The solution:
Stockpress gave Starnes Media a modern Digital Asset Management platform that fits how newsrooms actually work: fast-moving, collaborative, and built around content reuse across multiple channels.
From the start, Stockpress stood out for:
- Transparent pricing that’s easy to understand
- Unlimited user access across teams
- A clean, modern interface
- Fast, human support
- Hands-on migration help to move a large archive without losing structure
Once the team was up and running, Stockpress became the place where editorial, advertising, and social teams could all work from the same organized library—without sharing logins, hunting through folder trees, or losing track of who uploaded what.
Key workflows that made an immediate difference included:
- Assets living in multiple folders at once (so overlapping coverage doesn’t mean moving files around)
- Metadata + captions stored with the asset for print and digital publishing
- Guest upload links for freelancers and seasonal contributors (like sports photographers)
- Live share links that don’t need to be recreated every time files are added
- Link cards to keep external references (like video embeds) connected to the right story assets
“Stockpress is affordable, accessible, and up to date. And the team actually cares.”
– Savannah Schmidt, Multimedia Journalist, Starnes Media
Results:
With Stockpress, Starnes Media now has:
- A centralized newsroom asset library: Photos, videos, and archives live in one searchable workspace—organized in a way that supports multiple publications and overlapping coverage.
- Faster “find what we need” moments: Editors and team members can search by metadata, date, and context—without waiting on slow folders or unreliable results.
- Better caption and metadata workflows: Assets stay publication-ready, with captions and credits retained when downloading for print or digital use.
- Smoother collaboration across teams: Editorial, advertising, and social can work from the same source of truth with clear visibility into ownership and organization.
- Simple intake for freelancers and interns: Guest upload links make it easy to collect large galleries quickly while keeping access controlled.
“For Starnes Media, Stockpress isn’t just about storing photos—it’s about keeping journalism organized, searchable, and ready for every platform.”
– Savannah Schmidt, Multimedia Journalist – Starnes Media
Want to try Stockpress for yourself? It’s free to get started, with paid packages available from $79 per month.
Get started for free
— No credit card required. See the difference in minutes.
