The ''Athens Banner-Herald'' is a

daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, 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 poli ...

Athens, Georgia Athens is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Downtown Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta. The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and an Research I university, ...

, USA, and owned by

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as several ...

. The paper has a Sunday special and publishes online under the name ''Online Athens''.

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

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 ...

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''. The Morris family purchased the rival paper on December 24, 1967, and consolidated its staff into the ''Athens Banner-Herald.'' 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. Morris sold the ''Banner-Herald'' to

Gatehouse Media GateHouse Media Inc. was an American publisher of locally based print and digital media. It published 144 daily newspapers, 684 community publications, and over 569 local-market websites in 38 states. Its parent company, New Media Investment Group ...

in August 2017. Two years later GateHouse merged with

in November 2019.

Notable staff

* Sportswriter

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 edi ...

Awards

The newspaper routinely wins awards in

Georgia Press Association Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of peo ...

and Georgia

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

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 Newspapers established in 1932 1832 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)