The ''Athens Banner-Herald'' is a

daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports ...

with less than 20,000 circulation located in

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

, USA, and owned by Gannett. The paper has a Sunday special and publishes online under the name ''Online Athens''. It has been through a series of restructurings and mergers since 2000, culminating in its sale, along with several other papers, by

Morris Communications Morris Communications, headquartered in Augusta, Georgia, is a privately held media company with diversified holdings that include magazine publishing, outdoor advertising, book publishing and distribution, visitor publications, and online serv ...

to Gatehouse Media in August 2017. Since the merger of GateHouse Media and Gannett in November 2019, ''The Athens Banner-Herald'' is now owned by Gannett.

History

The newspaper traces its history to the ''Southern Banner newspaper which began publishing on March 20, 1832. The paper's masthead and owners were unchanged until 1872, when it was sold and the masthead changed to ''North-East Georgian'' and to ''Athens Weekly Georgian'' after sale, before returning to its original masthead in 1879. The title changed again with its merger with its rival the ''Southern Watchman'' to form the ''Athens Banner-Watchman'' in 1882. It was owned and operated by T.L. Gantt. In 1889, the masthead became the ''Athens Weekly Banner'' for the weekly edition. This later became ''The Weekly Banner'' until the cessation of weekly editions in 1921. In 1902, the daily newspaper, then called the ''Athens Daily Banner'', became the ''Athens Banner'' under the ownership of H.J. Rowe. It continued under this title until 1923 when it merged with the ''Athens Daily Herald'' to become the ''Banner-Herald''. This became the ''Athens Banner-Herald'' in 1933. Earl Braswell was the newspaper's publisher, a position he held until 1965. In 1965, Billy and Charles Morris of

purchased the newspaper. On June 17 that year, the weekly ''Athens Advertiser'' changed its name to the ''Athens Daily News'' and became a seven-day morning paper to compete with the afternoon ''Athens Banner-Herald''. On June 17, 1965, the weekly ''Athens Advertiser'' changed its name to the ''Athens Daily News'' and became a seven-day morning paper, competing with the afternoon ''Athens Banner-Herald''. Glenn Vaughn wrote in its first editorial page, "Our goal is to produce a daily newspaper that will be equal to this magnificent community." The ''Athens Daily News'' was independent, and is where

Lewis Grizzard Lewis McDonald Grizzard Jr. (October 20, 1946 – March 20, 1994) was an American writer and humorist, known for his Southern demeanor and commentary on the American South. Although he spent his early career as a newspaper sports writer and ed ...

began his career as a sports writer. On December 24, 1967, the Morris family, which owned the ''Athens Banner-Herald'', bought the ''Athens Daily News'' and continued publishing both papers, though eventually both editorial staffs were merged. In 1991, the ''News'' and ''Banner-Herald'' moved into a new office at the corner of Thomas and Broad Streets. The building came to be known as The News Building. During this time, the ''Athens Banner-Herald'' established a web presence. In 1996, the newspapers started a web page, ''Athenaeum''. The following year, the newspaper started ''OnlineAthens.com'', its current web page. In 2001, the ''News'' and ''Banner-Herald'' merged into a single morning paper with the ''Banner-Herald'' name. In December 2011,

reached an agreement to sell The News Building to Lulscal, LLC.

Awards

The newspaper routinely wins awards in Georgia Press Association and Georgia

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

competitions, including Story of the Year honors in 2002, 2004 and 2006.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Georgia (U.S. state), Journalism Newspapers published in Georgia (U.S. state) Companies based in Athens, Georgia Clarke County, Georgia Gannett publications