Atlanta, GA
Local news is in crisis. This paper has a $150 million plan
Publisher and CEO Andrew Morse says the Atlanta Journal Constitution can surmount tough industry headwinds by capturing readers throughout Georgia and the South. “Instead of reading story after story about the futility of this,” Morse asks, “why don’t we grasp onto notions of, ‘How do we build for the future?’”
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Dashed hopes and slashed jobs define the local news industry in far too many corners of the country.
In Atlanta, Andrew Morse, the president and publisher of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, has splashy plans to revive the ailing newspaper. And he’s been given a $150 million runway over the next several years to figure it out.
“I did not come here to manage decline,” says Morse, a former CNN executive who joined the newspaper in January 2023. “We understand that the ad marketplace has been hollowed out by Google and Facebook. We know that news deserts have emerged throughout much of the country.
“Instead of reading story after story about the futility of this,” Morse asks, “why don’t we grasp onto notions of, ‘How do we build for the future?’”
From a journalistic standpoint — heck, from an actuarial standpoint — the local newspaper industry is in dire straits.
The companies are largely concentrated in the hands of a few corporate titans, many controlled by investment funds. Owners often seek to prop up immediate profits while shrinking their newspapers’ staff in what’s considered by critics to be a money-making death spiral.
More than 2.5 newspapers, on average, closed each week over the year ending in October, according to Northwestern University’s Medill State of Local News Report.
President-elect Donald Trump’s win earlier this month led to even more hand-wringing among journalists about the importance Americans place on news based on the traditional principles of objectivity, accountability and the facts. Trump eschewed interviews with many mainstream news outlets, choosing instead sympathetic podcasters. And many voters simply gained information about the candidates and the race elsewhere.
The Journal-Constitution’s own recent past features retrenchment and cost-cutting. In recent decades, it retreated from covering Georgia beyond the Atlanta suburbs. It stopped circulating in farther reaches of the state.
Its parent company, Cox Enterprises, shed most of its other newspapers, but not the Journal-Constitution. Cox Enterprises CEO Alex C. Taylor, a great-grandson of the company’s founder, says the newspaper plays a critical role in Atlanta — one of providing reliable news and information.
“We believe that journalism and facts are an essential component of our community, particularly now,” Taylor writes in a statement to NPR. And he says that the company embraces Morse’s vision for a sustainable business.
The plan
Morse has undertaken a literal rebuilding: When I visited in the spring, we spoke outside the midtown Atlanta site where Morse is having a state-of-the-art newsroom built from scratch for reporting, podcasting, streaming video shows, live events and more. He’s moving the paper back into the heart of the city from the northern suburbs. The office is set to open on Monday.
“Our mission is to be the most essential and engaging source of news for the people of Atlanta, Georgia, in the South,” Morse says.
On his first day, back in January 2023, Morse drew concentric geographic circles for readers’ interests. Politics came first.
“Georgia’s the center of the political universe,” he says.
Before the election, both Trump and Vice President Harris were frequent visitors to the purple state, which ultimately went for Trump. But he also faces a multicount indictment here for conspiring to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential vote, which was narrowly won by President Biden.
The paper’s coverage of the race and the legal case has been widely cited in the national press.
“If we cover Georgia politics exceptionally well, we’ll pick up subscribers in Atlanta, Georgia, the South and beyond,” Morse says.
Andrew Morse, the publisher and chief executive of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, stands before a mural advertising the newspaper.
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David Folkenflik/NPR
After politics, sports and Black culture
Morse next drew circles around regional sports, food, culture and Black life. The paper’s coverage of that last category falls under the heading “UATL,” for “Unapologetically Atlanta.” Morse green-lit a six-figure budget for a documentary on the rise of hip-hop there called “The South Got Something To Say.” It featured interviews with Andre 3000, Suge Knight and Snoop Dogg, among others.
He met frequently with Atlanta Hawks CEO Steve Koonin to learn how he reconnected the basketball team to an alienated Atlanta fan base, especially African Americans.
This fall, the paper started the UATL as a stand-alone product, inviting readers to become members. More than 5,000 people signed up as members in the first few weeks. The approach echoes the New York Times’ strategy of creating separate apps for games and cooking.
As the number two at CNN, Morse followed a similar strategy, also inspired by the Times, in building the streaming service CNN+, knitting a journalistic core with programs serving as book clubs, parenting guides and coffee klatches.
That playbook lasted just a month; it fell victim to a change in both the ownership and CEO at CNN. Morse left shortly after.
A hands-on approach at a time of crisis
Morse operates with a personal touch. Staffers say he shows up routinely at company softball games and civic events. He has met all 400 employees in small groups and dinners and written front-page editorials, including one promising longtime subscribers that the paper is not dispensing with the daily print edition — not for the foreseeable future.
Indeed, Morse has doubled down on print, for the moment. To advertise the Journal-Constitution’s coverage and its revived ambitions, it’s offered for free at stores in the Georgia cities of Athens, Macon and Savannah — all places where the local papers have declined in staffing, circulation and breadth of coverage.
The Athens Banner-Herald and the Savannah Morning News are owned by newspaper giant Gannett. The Macon Telegraph is owned by McClatchy, which is held by a hedge fund. The newsrooms of all three have been cut back severely. Like many local newspapers, they no longer publish seven days a week.
The AJC took its podcast Politically Georgia, which also airs as a show on the public radio station WABE, on the road as well, to appeal to listeners and potential subscribers.
Back in Atlanta, Morse regularly leads daily news sessions in tandem with Editor-in-Chief Leroy Chapman Jr., a 13-year veteran at the paper whom Morse elevated to the job last year. It’s a TV news move: Morse’s longtime boss at CNN, the former President Jeff Zucker, was famous for steering coverage at the network.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Editor in Chief Leroy Chapman Jr. says the current media crisis requires “all hands on deck.”
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At most newspapers, by contrast, the publisher’s direct involvement in coordinating news coverage would be problematic — even a crisis — with the potential to blur lines between business and journalistic imperatives.
Chapman tells NPR that the real crisis — the threat of financial collapse in local newspapering — is already here. And he argues that Morse is helping the Journal-Constitution pull through it.
“The responsibility at the top for transformational change is a commitment,” says Chapman. “It can’t necessarily be effectively done by emails and by things you write.”
“Change and the commitment to change really does come from hands-on [involvement], day to day, moment to moment,” he adds.
Morse rejects potential concerns about his involvement, including concerns about coverage of the Cox family’s other corporate holdings. He says he shields the newsroom from corporate or political pressures.
“Everybody wants to try to play an angle. They try to exert their influence,” Morse says. “If not for our editorial integrity, we don’t have a business model. As long as everyone understands that, there’s no problem.”
So will it succeed?
“We’ve set a vision to be able to transform the AJC from this storied 155-year-old organization into a modern media company,” Morse says.
In a hopeful sign, the newspaper is doing something rare among its kind: It’s adding staffers. By the end of this year, the Journal-Constitution will have added nearly 100 more people than when Morse started, an increase of about a quarter. (That takes into account a handful of layoffs and buyouts this year.)
These days, a spokesperson says, the paper has a bit north of 100,000 paying print and digital subscribers, a modest increase from recently disclosed levels. The spokesperson also says the Journal-Constitution has enjoyed consistent growth this year. Morse is shooting for 500,000 subscriptions — that is, almost five times as many as it has right now.
For this story, I surveyed six industry executives with experience in local news about Morse’s plans. I anticipated at least some skepticism.
Five said they thought Morse stood a pretty good chance of pulling this off.
All six said they were rooting for him.
The Atlanta Hawks are wrapping up their six game road trip tonight in Phoenix with a matchup against the Suns. It has not been the best road trip for the Hawks, as they have gone 2-3 on it, but they have been playing most of the trip without star forward Jalen Johnson. That is going to continue tonight as the Hawks will be without Johnson for the third straight game and the fourth time in the last five games. It has not been pretty for the Hawks without Johnson, but they are going to be facing one of the most disappointing teams in the league tonight.
Phoenix came into the season with title hopes and after a hot start, it looked like the hire of former Hakws coach Mike Budenholzer was paying off for the Suns. It has not gone well though. This team is currently outside of the top ten in the Western Conference, Bradley Beal is now coming off the bench, and Devin Booker is not playing up to his usual All-NBA level. This team has talent, but they have not shown it on a night-to-night basis, as evidenced from their loss to Charlotte on Tuesday. Even without Johnson, the Hawks have a chance tonight due to the Sun’s inconsistency.
Coming into tonight’s game, the Hawks are 6th in the NBA in PPG, 14th in FG%, 17th in 3PA, 19th in 3P%, 5th in FTA, 24th in turnovers, and 6th in rebounding. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 15th in points per 100 possessions, 18th in effective field goal percentage, 19th in turnover percentage, 8th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 9th in free throw rate.
Currently, the Hawks rank 28th in PPG allowed, 22nd in field goal percentage allowed, 30th in three-point attempts allowed, and 30th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Atlanta is 19th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 28th in effective field goal percentage allowed.
Phoenix comes into this game ranked 17th in PPG, 12th in FG%, 14th in 3PA, 7th in 3p%, 11th in free throw attempts per game, 25th in rebounding, and 10th in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Suns are 13th in points per 100 possessions, 10th in effective field goal%, 13th in turnover percentage, 27th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 6th in free throw rate.
Defensively, Phoenix ranks 19th in PPG allowed, 14th in FG% allowed, 15th in 3PA allowed, and 21st in 3P% allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, Phoenix is 23rd in points allowed per 100 possessions and 15th in effective field goal% allowed.
With Johnson out tonight, it is going to be on the shoulders of Trae Young to try and lift the Hawks to a win. Young had another 20-point, 20-assist game on Tuesday vs Utah, finishing with 24 points and 20 assists. Phoenix will likely try to guard him with rookie Ryan Dunn, who is a very solid defender, but Young is a different test entirely.
Dyson Daniels was overshadowed a bit by Young’s performance and game-winning shot, but Daniels flirted with a triple-double on Tuesday night. Daniels scored 16 points, had seven assists, and six rebounds on 7-12 shooting. He can be the lead guard and playmaker whenever Young goes to the bench and has done a decent job of that. Daniels will also be tasked with guarding Booker tonight (which is not an easy task) and trying to limit his scoring.
Zaccharie Risacher had one of his better performances this season on Tuesday night vs Utah. He scored 14 points on 6-14 from the field and pulled in six rebounds. With Johnson out, it might be Risacher guarding Kevin Durant tonight, though the Hawks could use Vit Krejci to do that.
Krejci had a solid game for Atlanta on Tuesday, scoring 13 points and shooting 3-4 from three and I would expect him to get the start with Johnson out again.
Clint Capela had a monster game on Tuesday, shooting 9-11 from the field and scoring 18 points. He finished at the rim well and also had three blocks and Phoenix is not a good rebounding team. If the Hawks win, I would bet that Capela is very key in making that happen. With Onyeka Okongwu questionable and Larry Nance still out, it might be the first time for Dominick Barlow to play an actual role on this team as the backup to Capela. If Okongwu plays, Barlow is unlikely to see minutes.
The bench will be led by De’Andre Hunter, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Garrison Matthews (as well as whoever is the backup center). Until the fourth quarter, Bogdanovic and Matthews were having a poor shooting night, but Bogdanovic nailed two big shots to keep the Hawks in the game. Combined, they shot 4-15 from three and it is tough for Atlanta to win when two of their best shooters shoot like that. Hunter bounced back from a pair of rough games and scored 17 points and hit four of his seven three-point attempts against the Jazz. The bench will have a huge role tonight in helping the Hawks to earn a victory.
How the Hawks are able to guard Durant might be the biggest mismatch in the game. Durant is close to unguardable, but the Hawks don’t really have a great option in the starting lineup and I would expect to see Hunter get a lot of minutes on him when he comes off the bench. Atlanta could not guard Lauri Markkanen on Tuesday due to his size and shooting combination and they could struggle with Durant for the same reason.
According to Fanduel Sportsbook, the Suns are 6.5 point favorites tonight and the total is set at 238.5.
This is going to be a tough matchup for the Hawks without Jalen Johnson. The Hawks struggle to replace his versatile skillset when he is out and that is going to be a problem tonight against Durant and the Suns. Phoenix is inconsistent and can lose on any given night, but I like them to squeak by the Hawks tonight.
Final Score: Suns 120, Hawks 115 (Hawks +6.5 and Under)
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ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Winter weather on the horizon has people living in metro Atlanta with steep driveways preparing for ice.
Steep driveways are a common sight in Sandy Springs and there are solutions to not being stuck during the storm.
Amit Gambhir is one driver with a steep driveway. “It hasn’t been too bad. That we’ve seen. I know we’re thinking that could be the case in a couple of days,” said Gambhir.
“I want to say it was eight hours. I was one of the lucky ones it wasn’t overnight but it was a long time,” said Gambhir.
Gambhir doesn’t plan on being stuck in his car again.
“I do not plan to be out and about very much Thursday night through however long this lasts,” said Gambhir.
“If you do need to get out of your house and out of the neighborhood, probably Ice Melt, so you can get your car where it needs to go. So snow shovels or Ice Melt,” said Andy Jones, a manager and owner of Intown Ace Hardware.
Ice Melt is a chemical substance that melts snow and ice by lowering the freezing point of water.
“It essentially melts the ice and then that melted ice will run off your driveway so it won’t refreeze and you’re not slipping,” said Jones.
Salting driveways is another option.
“Go ahead and pull down to the street and park your car on the street the night before,” said Jones.
“I think we’re just going to hold steady here and play it safe,” said Jones.
Copyright 2025 WANF. All rights reserved.
Atlanta, GA
Atlanta inspector general warns new City Council legislation could ruin leadership transparency
Will Atlanta’s Inspector General lose its teeth?
Atlanta’s Inspector General claims new legislation to give her office more oversight is actually turning the clocks back on progress the city had made in rooting out corruption. The independent watchdog agency has come under fire by city employees for allegedly seizing cellphones and checking cash app accounts. Even Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens’ office has found itself at odds with the inspector general.
ATLANTA – Atlanta’s Inspector General warns legislation introduced this week will gut her office and turn the clock back on attempts to weed out corruption, fraud and misconduct at City Hall.
The independent watchdog agency has come under fire by city employees for alleged tactics and procedures.
Even Mayor Andre Dickens’s office has found itself at odds with the IG.
The legislation is sponsored by longtime Council member Howard Shook and six of his colleagues.
The IG says if it passes, it will rip the teeth out of her office.
Shannon Manigault, Atlanta’s Inspector General, sits down with FOX 5 Atlanta for a one-on-one interview on Dec. 4, 2024. (FOX 5)
“We have had delays. We’ve had obstruction. We’ve had disclosure of our requests,” said Atlanta Inspector General Shannon Manigault.
She is disappointed in legislation introduced Monday by Shook to limit the authority of the independent office in its effort to hold city employees and officials accountable.
Currently, stakeholder organizations nominate board members to oversee the IG, but Shook’s legislation would change the charter.
“It takes the additional step of creating a mayoral board, so right now the board of the inspector general and the language in the charter says the board is there to ensure the independence of the office. That model, which is a great one, and one that had been lauded by other cities,” Shannon Manigault affirmed.
That could soon go away. The IG believes all Atlantans should be alarmed by this.
Another new aspect, the new board would appoint an inspector general, which could leave Manigault searching for a new job.
“Always what is important is what’s best for the institution. It’s not about Shannon Manigault. It’s about the citizens of Atlanta having trust in this office that’s supposed to build trust in city government,” the IG said.
Manigault says the proposed legislation also does away with the IG getting immediate access to employee documents.
“Rather than have immediate access of records, we need to root out fraud, waste, and corruption in the city. We have to go to employees, and it’s voluntary as to whether those employees are gonna provide city records and city property. That’s unheard of,” the top attorney explained.
The legislation was introduced Monday.
There will be an opportunity to make changes to it next week during the finance committee meeting.
The Source: This is part of continuing coverage from FOX 5 Atlanta reporter Aungelique Proctor.
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