Appen Family

publisher emeritus

Ray Appen

Ray received an undergraduate degree in political science (’76) and a master’s degree in public administration (’81) from Florida State University.

He joined the advertising department for the Miami Herald in 1983 and held a variety of positions before being named a Classified Sales Director, a position he held until 1989.

After moving to Alpharetta in 1990 he bought The ReVue with a goal to build the fledgling newspaper into a reputable, news focused powerhouse that could support his growing family.

Ray has always shown an ability to see beyond the curve and anticipate challenges and opportunities in the industry and growing metropolitan area.

In 1996, he launched NorthFulton.com, the 2nd news website in Georgia after ajc.com. Shortly after, he created and ran CouponsRUs.com, which helped pave the way for thousands of B2C, deal centric websites.

Building on the successful purchase of The ReVue, Ray also saw opportunities to grow his print portfolio in parallel with the exploding North Atlanta market in the mid 1990’s to early 2000’s. He began publishing the Forsyth Herald, Johns Creek Herald, Milton Herald, Lake Lanier Herald, Gwinnett Herald, Business Post, Golf Atlanta and Northside Woman magazine.

Ray has stated that some of his greatest achievements in owning and running his own newspapers over the years has been an ability to weather hard economic downturns and natural disasters, without taking on a lot of debt he couldn’t pay back.

Ray continues to work in the company he built with his wife Christina, which is now being run by his sons Carl and Hans.

CEO emeritus

Christina Appen

Christina grew up in Springfield, Ohio and was introduced to news media while working in the ad sales department at a small Cox newspaper while in high school and then for the school newspaper Indiana Daily Student while in college.

She received a B.S. in Business from Indiana University (’82) and an M.B.A. from Nova Southeastern (’86).

Christina was recruited by the Miami Herald to work in their advertising department where she held various positions before ultimately being promoted to Employment Manager.

Her corporate experiences and skills were put to work in Alpharetta, GA in 1990 when she and her husband, Ray, purchased The Revue newspaper.

Her vision for their startup company was to build a profitable business to support their growing family and to immediately get involved in the community.

In addition to building her local newspaper business, Christina has been a consistent supporter of local non-profits, North Fulton Community Charities, Drake House, Giving Children a Chance, Chattahoochee Nature Center and Foster Care Support Foundation. She is also an Elder at Alpharetta Presbyterian Church.

In parallel with the explosive population growth in Metro Atlanta in the early 1990’s, Christina oversaw the growth of her family business from a bi-weekly newspaper to five weekly newspapers with a combined circulation of 93,000 homes per week.

Christina continues to contribute to the family business and offer consulting services, but is now focused on spending more time with her 3 grandchildren, family and friends, and giving back to the community that supported her business for over 30 years.

CEO & Publisher

Hans Appen

Hans joined AMG in 2011 after graduating from the University of Georgia with a B.B.A. in Economics from the Terry College of Business. He was promoted to Publisher in 2019 after serving in a variety of roles within the company.

In 2018 he launched the Appen Podcast Network, a division of AMG comprised of local news centric podcast channels. Its flagship is the Cadillac Jack – My Second Act podcast, which consistently charts on Apple’s Top 100 Entertainment Podcasts.

In addition to his work with AMG, Hans founded the Alpharetta Chamber of Commerce and ran the organization until 2017.

He is a 2013 graduate of Leadership North Fulton and a 2014 graduate of the Georgia Academy for Economic Development.

Hans currently sits on the board of directors for the Ed Isakson/Alpharetta Family YMCA (Chair) and the Georgia Ensemble Theatre. Previously Hans has also served on the boards of the Alpharetta Business Association, Alpharetta Chamber of Commerce, Association of Free Community Papers, Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce, North Fulton Alliance of Young Professionals, North Fulton Community Charities Advisory Board (Chair) and the City of Alpharetta Board of Zoning Appeals. He is also a member of the Alpharetta Rotary Club.