Bucking The Trend In Baton Rouge

The media industry is having a rough decade. Newspapers are closing and local TV stations are being consolidated by distant owners. The advertising dollars that used to fund local journalism have mostly migrated to platforms that have no particular interest in what’s happening in your neighborhood.

But, along with a number of other trends you can probably name, Baton Rouge isn’t following the rules.

Brandon Foreman is CEO of Family Resource Group, a Baton Rouge company that has been connecting families to this community for over 30 years with its “Parents Magazine.” Today Family Resource Group publishes nine brands across seven markets — from Baton Rouge and New Orleans to Denver, Cincinnati, Birmingham and beyond — and has expanded well beyond print into digital campaigns, podcasts, and technology tools for advertisers.

Brandon Foreman, CEO of Family Resource Group, a chain of magazines headquartered in Baton Rouge and published across the country

Brandon came to FRG through a somewhat unlikely route. His background is in technology — he ran a software company, a broadband internet provider in New Orleans, and launched several other ventures before arriving at the helm of a media company. He and his wife Amy, who is a publisher, received the 2024 Spaht Scholar Award from the East Baton Rouge Parish Library for their work championing literacy and education.

When Brandon’s not running around taking care of business, he’s probably in the air. He’s a licensed pilot, and says the skies are where he does some of his best thinking.

André Moreau literally needs no introduction. He’s a celebrity. A Baton Rouge native and LSU graduate, Andre started his career as a fundraiser at a university, decided at 27 that wasn’t the right fit, walked into television, and spent the next 40-plus years anchoring the news.

Andre Moreau is a celebrity in Louisiana, currently anchoring the news desk at Louisiana First News. Beyond Louisiana, millions of people know Andre’s face as one of the most hacked and pirated fake profiles on dating apps.

Andre was the lead sports anchor at WAFB for years, then left for Columbus, Detroit, Los Angeles and San Diego before coming home to Baton Rouge in 2008. He co-anchored the top-rated newscasts at WAFB with Donna Britt, then spent years as anchor and managing editor at Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

Andre has an Emmy, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters, and a Special Achievement Award for his coverage of Louisiana’s coastal crisis. He’s covered hurricanes, earthquakes, Stanley Cup parades, NBA championship parades, presidents, and yes, a pope. He retired from LPB in June 2023. By March 2025 he was back on the air at Louisiana First News. He says he missed being plugged in. He missed the scoop.

Local media is under real pressure right now. Stations are being bought by companies that have never set foot in Louisiana. Print advertising keeps shrinking. The economic model that paid for local journalism for a century is still being worked out. Yet, here we are in Baton Rouge, bucking the trend. Brandon is betting that if you build media around a community rather than just broadcasting at it — events, partnerships, publications people actually want in their homes — the business will follow. And André continues his 40 years of believing that local news matters to a community.