Georgia newspapers claim few effects from loss of AJC

Georgia newspapers claim few effects from loss of AJC
By: Becky Taylor
Editor: Kate Parham

“Covers Dixie Like the Dew,” was the slogan of the Atlanta Journal.

That would have applied to the paper’s distribution as people in all corners of Georgia could purchase a printed copy of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Beginning in 2007, the paper began eliminating areas of the state from their distribution zone. Daily papers in Georgia that always had the Journal-Constitution as a companion were now alone in reporting news in a daily printed format.

The loss of the AJC affected several papers in the state in various ways.

The Valdosta Daily Times has made no changes in the way it handles the news.

Within months, the paper not only saw The Atlanta Journal-Constitution rescind its distribution, but the area also lost access to the printed version of Jacksonville-based The Florida Times-Union. On the north side of the state line, the latter sold under the title The Georgia Times-Union.

“We’ve continued on what we were doing,” said Sandy Sanders, publisher of the Daily Times.

He said they have attempted to cover the local area better.

Sanders said he has not noticed any effects of the loss of both publications other than that they “may have picked up some single copy sales.”

Situated in the middle of the state, The Macon Telegraph lost its access to the print AJC in 2009.

George McCanless, publisher of the paper, said they have experienced one direct effect of the loss of the printed Journal-Constitution from the area.

The Telegraph received business from the AJC by acting as a carrier of the paper.

McCanless said the paper has not attempted to expand its coverage area or its distribution. The Telegraph covers seven middle Georgia counties and delivers papers to 23. Its circulation is currently 50,000 daily and 65,000 on Sundays.

To the west is Columbus, Ga., and its daily, The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.

It is smaller than the Macon Telegraph in circulation figures. Daily, it is about 35,000 and 40,000 on Sundays. Senior editor for news Dimon Kendrick-Holmes said the numbers were smaller than they had been in the past.

He said the Ledger-Enquirer covers the Chattahoochee Valley area which includes such areas as Harris County, Ga., and Russell County, Ala.

Holmes-Kendrick said the Ledger-Enquirer’s goal was to reach more citizens in the area who were now looking for a daily newspaper with the loss of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

But there is a contradiction.

Holmes-Kendrick said The Ledger-Enquirer is expanding their coverage into the LaGrange/Troup County area. At the same time, he said the distribution area was smaller. Print copies of the paper are distributed in a 30-40 mile radius from the city of Columbus. Previously, the radius had been 100-150 miles.

Another city that lost the printed AJC is Athens, Ga.

The local Athens Banner-Herald is being proactive in its approach to life without the Journal-Constitution.

Melissa Hanna, executive editor, said the paper had asked readers for feedback about what they would like to see in the Banner-Herald.

She said it now includes a crossword puzzle and the paper also made some changes in comic strips. The crossword was added as one had been a daily part of the AJC.

Hanna said while the paper is currently circulated in five counties, there had been talks of increasing the distribution zone.

Overall, though, the changes are minor, Hanna said.

“We’re not doing anything we haven’t already done.”

For some, community newspapers are best bets

By Jennifer Johnson
Editor: Patrick Adams



Marisa Waldrop doesn’t watch CNN, listen to NPR or point her browser to any Web site to get her daily news.

Like many Americans, Waldrop is sticking close to home when it comes to choosing her newspaper.

“It’s what comes to my door,” said Waldrop, a Gainesville State pre-nursing major. “I like it because anything national that affects me is covered on a local-level."

Readers are investing their time in community newspapers because they provide information that they are unlikely to get anywhere else. Instead of filling their pages with information already available on the Internet, community newspapers are specializing their coverage, focusing on important events in their town or county.

"We’re what we call ‘hyper-local,’ so we don't cover anything outside the county line," said Walter Geiger, owner and publisher of the Herald-Gazette in Barnesville, Ga.

With a circulation of 5,000, the weekly has served as Barnesville's hometown newspaper since 1869. The Herald-Gazette posts two-paragraph teasers of every major story on their website, but restricts access to full-length articles and images to newspaper subscribers. It’s this business strategy that Geiger credits with his newspaper’s continued success.

“Large daily newspapers are getting their ass kicked because they’re giving away their content,” said Geiger.

His friend and former colleague John Greenman agrees — to an extent.

"I think that Walter Geiger's observation is influenced by timing," said Greenman, a former publisher of the Ledger-Enquirer in Columbus, Ga., and current journalism professor at Grady College at UGA. "A lot of the smaller newspapers began their Web sites later than the larger ones and learned from their perceived mistakes."

Since Jan. 13, when the Herald-Gazette's Web site became blog-oriented with comment fields, they’ve had 1.9 million page views.

"It has become more than a newspaper," said Geiger. "It's become a forum for grateful parents to thank ER staffs for taking care of their kid's broken leg or citizens to complain about potholes on their street."

Journalists are now finding more work at community newspapers than they are in the city, said Georgia Perimeter College journalism professor Col. (Ret.) Robert G. Knowles.

“Used to be large newspapers were a mecca for journalists escaping small-town newspapers,” said Knowles. “Now, because the big guys are failing so quickly, they’re running back to the one-stoplight towns to report on the Methodist Church’s bake sales.”

Even advertisers are recognizing the value in smaller newspaper markets. According to a survey by the Inland Press Association, advertising revenue in daily newspapers with a circulation of less than 15,000 rose by an average of 2.5 percent in 2008, while ad revenue dropped 25 percent at dailies with greater circulations.

"It’s a timing issue more than anything," said Greenman. “It will happen, but newspapers in smaller markets just haven’t yet been hit by the same kind of forces that the larger markets have been hit by.”

These forces include the consolidation of traditionally large advertisers like department stores and the rise in popularity of online sites for real estate, automobiles and jobs.

"If I’m an employer, I'm not going to advertise my job in Cumming, Ga. with [online sites] Monster or Career Builder when I'm really looking for a local person," said Greenman. “I’m going to go to my local newspaper.”

Citizens in smaller newspaper markets continue to place their trust in their hometown newspapers.

"I’ve always felt like they have my interests at heart," said Mary Quinn of Winterville, Ga., who reads the Athens Banner-Herald every day. "I don't feel that way when I pick up newspapers like the AJC [Atlanta Journal Constitution] or the Wall Street Journal."

As a kid growing up in Savannah, Geiger had an Atlanta Journal Constitution paper route and had read it all his life. Now that the newspaper has ceased home deliveries to his community, he’s stopped reading.

“They used to say that the AJC covered the Dixie like the dew,” said Geiger. “Now it’s like the ‘don’t.’”