Meredith Cummings has over 20 years of experience in print, web and multimedia reporting. She is President of Alabama Media Professionals, immediate past President of the Society of Professional Journalists Alabama Professional Chapter and advisor for the Capstone Association of Black Journalists. She is a member of SPJ’s Journalism Education Committee and is lead organizer for TEDxTuscaloosa.
In 2016 Cummings won first place in the photographer-writer category in the National Federation of Press Women contest and second place for opinion writing. She currently writes for al.com where her blog won first place in the 2015 NFPW contest. Cummings has worked at newspapers and websites in Alabama, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, New York and Florida.
She supervises Editing and Digital production for UA's Journalism Department in the WVUA-TV newsroom, a professional commercial TV station.
She directs the National Elementary School Press Association, the Alabama Scholastic Press Association and the Multicultural Journalism Workshop at The University of Alabama. In that capacity, she works with K-12 students around the country to help them start and improve broadcast, newspaper, magazine and multimedia journalism through training, workshops and a mentoring programs for teachers.
She coordinates social media for the University of Alabama Department of Journalism, the Alabama Scholastic Press Association and the National Elementary Schools Press Association.
In 2014 she was awarded the James Frederick Paschal Award, given by the Columbia Scholastic Press Advisers Association (CSPAA) that honors state or regional school press association officials who have distinguished themselves in the field.
She has freelanced for many publications, among them Yahoo!, The New York Times wire service, The Christian Science Monitor, Indian River magazine, Mountain Traditions Magazine, Spartanburg Magazine, Birmingham magazine, Alabama Alumni Magazine, Crimson magazine, Lookout Alabama magazine and Tuscaloosa Magazine.
In Alabama, she worked as a reporter for The Birmingham News and the Community News Editor at the Tuscaloosa News where she was a member of the editorial board, planned and edited the teen section, Pulse, edited the weekly newspaper, T-News Weekly and wrote a weekly health column on the lighter side of life with diabetes.
She was a 2010-11 Faculty Fellow in Service Learning awarded by the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Southern Interscholastic Press Association and the Advisory Board for the Tuscaloosa Center for Technology Academy.