Kevin Smith has been named publisher and president of Bluegrass Newsmedia LLC, Harlan Newsmedia LLC and Middlesboro-Tazewell LLC.
Smith has 25 years of experience in several different media segments. He started selling billboards for Adams Outdoor, and has been in the newspaper industry for the last 13 years.

His newspaper career began in his native Michigan, where he started as a retail zone manager for the Lansing State Journal in Lansing, Michigan. He worked his way up to ad director, overseeing two daily newspapers for Boone Newspapers Inc. (The Niles Daily Star and Dowagiac Daily News) as well as three weekly papers (The Cassopolis Vigilant, Edwardsburg Argus, and Off the Water).

From there, Smith joined the West Central Tribune in Willmar, Minnesota, where he oversaw advertising operations for a daily newspaper and two weekly papers. He also built the digital portfolio of marketing products for those newspapers.
In 2017, Smith moved to Lynchburg, Virginia, where he oversaw three daily newspapers (The News & Advance, The Danville Register & Bee and The Martinsville Bulletin.)

Smith will base at The Advocate-Messenger in Danville and said he looks forward to helping the newspaper serve Danville and Boyle County.

“I see four goals for The Advocate-Messenger. First, community involvement. I want us to be visibly in the community, to be a champion for the community, and a watchdog giving people the news and letting them know how it affects them,” he said.

His other goals include having the newspaper serve as a multimedia news source, using its digital presence to deliver news in print, video, and whatever the community needs to be informed about the happenings in the community.

“I also want to provide our business owners with marketing solutions that will help them make their cash registers ring,” Smith said, adding that he wants to provide the community with a news company that is here to serve the community for years to come.

“Danville is a great community. It has a small-town feel with lots of larger town amenities. I can’t wait to start learning more about its history and meeting the people,” he said.

Smith and his wife, Sandra, have four children and one grandchild. His children are Abby, who is mom to his granddaughter, Lauren; Easten, who is a sophomore at Texas Tech; Peyton, who just graduated from New London-Spicer High School in Minnesota, and Avery, who is a seventh-grader at Linkhorne Middle School.

Smith said he and his family look forward to getting settled into the community and becoming a part of Boyle County.