Major Atlanta newspaper eliminating dozens of jobs, scrapping print edition of paper

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) announced Thursday that it will stop publishing a print newspaper at the end of the year, cutting dozens of jobs in the process. 

The last print edition will run on Dec. 31, and the change will “result in the elimination of about 30 full- and part-time jobs involved in designing and distributing the newspaper” as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution shifts to digital-only publishing.

“We will begin the new year as a fully digital organization, committed, as always, to being the most essential and engaging news source for the people of Atlanta, Georgia, and the South,” President and Publisher Andrew Morse wrote in a letter to subscribers.

“This decision now is the best thing we can do in order to make sure the AJC is as relevant for the next 157 years as it has been for the last,” Morse added. 

Morse held a town hall with staffers Thursday to explain the changes, suggesting the move reflects a shift in the media industry as artificial intelligence begins to reshape online search and news organizations can no longer rely on social media platforms to drive traffic.

“The good news for us is our entire strategy over the past two and a half years has been focused on building direct relationships with customers,” Morse told staffers. 

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“The pressure on the business is only accelerating,” Morse said. “The fact that we are growing despite those pressures is a testament to the hard work we’ve done, but we have to put all our effort into the future.” 

The move underscores the ongoing transformation of local journalism, as legacy papers nationwide face falling ad revenue, declining print subscriptions and the unpredictable impact of artificial intelligence and algorithm-driven news discovery.

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Morse also told The New York Times that print papers are no longer an efficient way to deliver information. 

“The fact is, printing newspapers and putting them in trucks and driving them around and delivering them on people’s front stoops has not been the most effective way to distribute the news in a very long time,” Morse told the Times. 

The AJC said circulation peaked at more than 600,000 two decades ago, but only about 40,000 subscribers still receive the print edition.