Talk of the Town

By Sophie

July 16, 2008 9:47 AM | Link to this

I’m sad to hear that AJC is getting rid of the Gwinnett section. I check it daily and will miss the local coverage. I hope Rick Badie gets a job with the Gwinnett Daily Post!

By John

July 16, 2008 9:49 AM | Link to this

Give those of us who live in places like Rome the same timely print edition of the AJC that you give to those who live 20 miles away in Cartersville and 30 miles away in Paulding County and we will be happy. We don’t need a day old newspaper. I love the online edition but it’s not the same as having it in your hand.

By Ed

July 16, 2008 10:04 AM | Link to this

Circulation is down at the AJC for a very clear reason: Georgia is continuing to become even more solidly Republican, and the leading newspaper in the state remains far to the left. People are not going to pay good money for a newspaper that constantly bashes their politics. I can’t remember the last time I bought the AJC. I get what local news I need from ajc.com (ignoring the pop-up ads).

By Tes Socra

July 16, 2008 10:14 AM | Link to this

Cut salaries and duplications - not coverage of metro Atlanta ! Think I will pass on renewing my 30year 7 day subscription - it is not worth the new rising price - $175 !

By Jmon

July 16, 2008 10:16 AM | Link to this

In what departments/positions will layoffs be and how may will be laid off?

By Native

July 16, 2008 10:16 AM | Link to this

I guess this proves that the suburbs are no longer important to the AJC. They are officially an Atlanta-inside-285 only newspaper. bye-bye…

By Michael

July 16, 2008 10:17 AM | Link to this

Make people register and pay to blog. Like cover charges at trendy bars this should cut down on the idiots.

By GeoffDawg

July 16, 2008 10:24 AM | Link to this

What a great opportunity to get rid of Terance Moore! C’mon ajc, let’s not blow this chance.

By AJC Moderator

July 16, 2008 10:28 AM | Link to this

Jmon: The Newsroom and Revenue Organization are the departments impacted. In the Newsroom, approximately 85 positions (including open positions) will be eliminated and in Advertising Sales and Operations, approximately 104 positions (also including open positions) will be eliminated through voluntary separation programs (VSP). If staffing goals are not achieved through the VSP, an involuntary separation program will be announced in August 2008.

By Doug

July 16, 2008 10:34 AM | Link to this

I agree that more people would buy the paper if it reflected even a little the political interests of the suburbs. I have lived in DeKalb almost all my life, and there is no point in subscribing to the paper anymore because it does not cover my local community, and with these changes, it will cover it even less. Both DeKalb, Gwinnett, and Cobb have more people than the city of Atlanta, but the paper covers city hall, and does not cover the suburban counties very much at all.

By One Man's View

July 16, 2008 10:40 AM | Link to this

I remember when the AJC started the Gwinnett edition to put the GWinnett Daily News out of business. Now they shut it down. Almost predictable.

I will miss the community bloggers and local opinion page. Just try to get comments into the main paper. Not going to happen.

I would say that the new, non-racist Democrats are going to get stronger in GA. The Republicans have essentially become the white-only party in GA. Who wants a paper that caters to Bush-talk. Ugh.

By jeffrye

July 16, 2008 10:48 AM | Link to this

I am also sad the AJC is a skeleton of it’s previous self. I wonder if you start covering the news intown if you will have more subscribers!? Many, many things are happening intown that we want to know about. The AJC coverage of any of these is nonexistant at best. The ones who would read a newspaper have to resort to local news list-serves and neighbors for word of mouth. With the AJC losing readership like it is, you would think a change of how they do things would be in order. Good luck!

By Ted

July 16, 2008 10:52 AM | Link to this

Sophie: No one’s getting hired by the Gwinnett Daily Post, that’s for sure. They laid off 7 percent of their work force in March.

By John

July 16, 2008 10:56 AM | Link to this

The AJC is paying the price for mostly having a liberal slant. Cynthia Tucker probably accounts for a 30% drop in viewership over the last 10 years

By Diane

July 16, 2008 11:02 AM | Link to this

First,the AJC eliminated the Henry/Clayton news edition, then the Home and Garden section. Now it is eliminating the Buyer’s Edge edition. (When an edition becomes part of an already printed section, it basically is deleted). But the AJC keeps the Social Butterfly section. Let’s see, eliminate news the consumer can use, but retain stories about social galas. Yeah, that makes sense to me, NOT!

By JW

July 16, 2008 11:06 AM | Link to this

Any word on who will be representing the suburban bureaus?

By Jim O'Steen

July 16, 2008 11:08 AM | Link to this

The ajc didn’t start the Gwinnett supplement to put the GDN out of business. You’ve got it backwards. The NYT bought the GDN and expanded it in order to go head to head with the ajc. They failed. Swiftly, too. Even with a re-name and brand-new facilities.

By PT'er

July 16, 2008 11:14 AM | Link to this

Will part time reporters be part of the cuts? I hope not! Thanks!

By AJC Moderator

July 16, 2008 11:19 AM | Link to this

Native, Doug, One Man’s View: We are not losing local coverage of areas outside of metro Atlanta. Coverage of areas that were in a zone edition will be found in the Metro and Sports sections and online at ajc.com/metro. Online we’ll continue to share the views/comments of our community bloggers. Also, we are retaining our reporting staff in Gwinnett, Cobb, DeKalb and North Fulton. Specific to Gwinnett, the AJC will continue to be one of Gwinnett’s major employers - we’ll maintain our news bureau and advertising sales office there.

By Barbara

July 16, 2008 11:21 AM | Link to this

As a subscriber since Day 1 of the Gwinnett section of the AJC, I will sorely miss it and the reporters who do a great job of covering our area. The online section does not begin to cover the events and happenings in Gwinnett. I sincerely hope the online section will be beefed up and reporters familiar with Gwinnett, like Rebecca McCarthy and Rick Badie, will remain.

By Farsider

July 16, 2008 11:21 AM | Link to this

I think the AJC has done a great job over the years, and I hate to hear of this move. But it is true that newspapers all over the country are having to make tough decisions. I think the charge that the AJC is having to cut back due to its editorial stances is rubbish.

By g rasputin

July 16, 2008 11:23 AM | Link to this

Lay off C Tucker, J Bookman and Luckovich and more people might either buy and/or advertise in the paper. These people are so out of touch with the people of GA that they need to be with the NY Times liberal trashy paper. Glad to see this liberal bunch losing money.

By Go Fish

July 16, 2008 11:39 AM | Link to this

The coverage of the outlying metro area was poor anyway. Something else will fill the gap and AJC subscriptions will continue to fall. I no longer scribe to the print edition and only buy it occasionally at the news stand. I guess soon I will curtail visits to the online edition as well because the things I would be interested in will not be there. Too bad I guess.

By Mike

July 16, 2008 11:52 AM | Link to this

I cancelled my subscription after several years because I couldn’t subsidize the AJC’s liberal propaganda any longer.

Perhaps they should consider adding some conservative voices and some of us might come back. It’s amusing that having some ideological balance is one line which the AJC will not cross. Better to lay people off than stray from liberal ideology.

Of course, if Bookman were to write about this in the same way he covers everything elese, he would disregard all of the structural changes effecting circulation and accuse the AJC’s management of being overpaid, incompetant and/or evil.

By Saint Joan

July 16, 2008 11:53 AM | Link to this

Dump Jim Wooten

By LT x-reader

July 16, 2008 11:53 AM | Link to this

The AJC has made a studied editorial decision to drive away the great bulk of their readers and now they’re seeing the results. This is a generally conservative state. People understand that a newspaper can have a liberal editorial stand and an independent news block. The AJC has abandoned any pretense to such a separation. Story selection, story placement, the “experts” and “activists” they go to for comment - all lean left on Cynthia Tucker. And the laughable fetish of devoting so much ink to covering every rap star who ever even had 5 minutes of fame isn’t helping either. Who do they think actually reads (or shall I say, read)the paper?

By JDavid

July 16, 2008 12:06 PM | Link to this

It was just time for the PRINT media, AJC, to ride off into the sunset…just like the Pony Express, the telegraph, the circular dial telephone..technology killed PRINT…FOX NEWS & AM Talk radio made the AJC irrelevant..obsolete…

By Wendy

July 16, 2008 12:06 PM | Link to this

Will you keep the Golden Carrot Award as an ongoing item?

By JDavid

July 16, 2008 12:06 PM | Link to this

It was just time for the PRINT media, AJC, to ride off into the sunset…just like the Pony Express, the telegraph, the circular dial telephone..technology killed PRINT…FOX NEWS & AM Talk radio made the AJC irrelevant..obsolete…

By JR

July 16, 2008 12:10 PM | Link to this

Just move the paper to Athens and be done with it. That’s where 99% of it is devoted to anyway!

By Angie

July 16, 2008 12:15 PM | Link to this

As a native Atlantan, I have been raised on the AJC (even when it was 2 different papers). It is sad that these people will be losing jobs. I will continue to enjoy wy print edition as well as the online edition too. And Ed: you are dead wrong - we are not all so narrow-minded. there are many of us who refuse to succumb to the dark side.

By Mike Hussein S

July 16, 2008 12:31 PM | Link to this

I am so glad to see CityLife and Buyer’s Edge bite the dust. Citylife had become nothing more than a “good news” rag, a billboard for stupid rewrites of press releases about national scholarships, and exceedingly boring. And the attempt to start an editorial page for CityLife was simply ludicrous since no one working on it had an opinion about anything. Buyer’s Edge’s only reason to be was the column helping people find rare items. The rest was junk, like the recent “cornhole” story. I think the job cuts should start at the top. Obviously Mellott and Wallace have failed to put out a newspaper that people want to read or advertise in.

By AnotherPT'er

July 16, 2008 12:32 PM | Link to this

PT’er: This might help with your concern: “We are also announcing a staff reduction of about 8% of our full-time workforce that will occur between August and October. The reductions will come from various areas of our business. These changes come on top of a series of planned reorganizations already completed across AJC departments over the past 18 months. http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2008/07/16/ajcjohnmellott_letter.html

By Pierce Randall

July 16, 2008 12:36 PM | Link to this

It’s sad to see they’re laying off people.

I hope folding all local sections will have a bonus of making people feel like their news is more communal. I live in Atlanta, but something that happens in Gwinnett is as important to me as something that happens in Buckhead (both miles from where I live). I don’t think they’ll lose a lot of business, because the AJC can’t really compete as a more expensive county tabloid. The local sections sold short too heavily the AJC’s prestige as the regional paper of record here. Merge Clayton School Board stuff with Delta and east Dekalb news, and I think you’ll get a more conscious readership.

By William

July 16, 2008 12:39 PM | Link to this

Tes Socra: $175 a year for a 365 day paper is not worth it? That averages out to less than 50 cents a day (including the Sunday paper). How much do you think it costs to research, compile, print, and deliver a daily newspaper? 50 cents is an amazing bargain.

Go Fish: Why do you think that the online edition won’t have the things you would be interested in? This is all about cutting costs, and moving things online is a cost saver. It stands to reason that the online edition will contain local news coverage not available in the print edition.

By cbpprusty

July 16, 2008 12:42 PM | Link to this

Are the Friday, Saturday and Sunday Gwinnett Automotive Sections and the Saturday Gwinnett Real Estate Section going away as well?

By Roscoe

July 16, 2008 12:49 PM | Link to this

RIP AJC. RIP Print Media everywhere.

If you cut 85 from the newsroom there’s no way we can expect any coverage of anything signficant beyond the occssional pronouncement from the powers that be - even online.

If you cut 85 how many are left? 10? 15?

How many are going from the editorial staff? From sports? etc. How many are left?

By nb

July 16, 2008 1:16 PM | Link to this

Get rid of Tucker and Bookman, then I might pay to read your paper!

By Mike Hussein S

July 16, 2008 1:24 PM | Link to this

Jedadiah Leland got it right back in 1941: Charlie Kane@10:36, you are a miserable unhuman being.

By KC Blackstone

July 16, 2008 1:42 PM | Link to this

What about the south side of Metro Atlanta? South Fulton, Fayette, Coweta—oh, that’s right. They have never been of much improtance to the AJC. Sorry to have bothered you.

By John Connelly

July 16, 2008 1:44 PM | Link to this

Give trees a chance! How many trees are consumed each day to print the AJC? No wonder we have global warming. I understand the NYTimes goes through 75,000 trees for each printing of the Sunday edition, plus thousands of gallons of ink that end up in the land fills on Monday morning! And how many gallons of fuel to transport that paper across the state? Go green people. Go virtual.

Save the trees, not AJC’s.

By thirdwheel

July 16, 2008 1:46 PM | Link to this

Oh no is the Health Try-out team going away as well? I really like them….

By Scott C

July 16, 2008 2:37 PM | Link to this

I stopped subscribing years ago after the biased reporting became too much. So many unfair attacks without an attempt to balance makes this newspaper nothing more than a liberal propaganda vehicle. While I don’t wish for anyone to lose their jobs, maybe this will be a wakeup call to the AJC to make an attempt at not being a bastion for the bedwetting liberal.

The AJC is nothing more than an extension of the Luckovich cartoons and the paper has gone from Covering Dixie Like the Dew to Covering Dixie Like Doo Doo.

By AJC Moderator

July 16, 2008 2:37 PM | Link to this

Wendy: The Golden Carrot Award will remain and be included in the Wednesday Living Section, however the frequency of the column is undecided as of yet.

cbpprusty: Today’s announcements do not impact the publication of the Gwinnett Automotive and Real Estate Sections.

By "Lindy"

July 16, 2008 2:52 PM | Link to this

K C has it right! What about the Southside? Had the AJC built a plant on the Southside like they did in Gwinnett in the ‘80’s, who knows, we might even still be getting our paper just south of Metro!! It says here that “gas prices” is just a euphamism and/or excuse folks in the Southside were railroaded out of their paper in the first place!! The AJC reaps what they sow!!!

By Question

July 16, 2008 3:06 PM | Link to this

Do you have a list of reporters/columnists that are being laid off?

By Kayne

July 16, 2008 3:12 PM | Link to this

Why don’t you cut Cynthia Tucker, she is #1, single reason for the AJC’s lack of revenue. She is an embarrassment to anyone with even a hint of common sense. Sorry to see ya go from Gwinnett, your delivery people always mis-delivered just enough paper to my driveway to keep my 4 bird cages lined.

By bubba joe

July 16, 2008 3:15 PM | Link to this

For years, if I wanted to know what was actually going on in Atlanta I would seek out the Jacksonville, FL newspaper. They actually printed those things the AJC was paid not to report. AJC yawn…. .

By Mauirce Taylor

July 16, 2008 4:00 PM | Link to this

I am a former Advertising employee at the AJC. To all my fellow coworkers, I would like to say thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to the Atlanta metro area throughout the years. Some bloggers have posted disrespectful messages in a time of grief. People have families, mortgages and even parents to take care of. What kind of person would kick someone while their already down. Don’t worry about the naysayers pick yourself up, dust yourself off and move on!!! I love you guyz. Take care. E.Maurice Taylor

By Julia Wallace, Editor

July 16, 2008 4:04 PM | Link to this

Roscoe: After the cutbacks, we will have a full-time newsroom of 350 people. That’s the largest news gathering operation in the SE. We will continue to aggressively cover the news that’s important to our readers.

By mitchwendy

July 16, 2008 4:12 PM | Link to this

No Gwinnett section….Guess thats yet another reason I won’t be getting home delivery!

By Jen

July 16, 2008 4:16 PM | Link to this

The AJC didn’t build the Gwinnett plant….they just took advantage of the New York Times giving it up. Gas prices are no euphamism. They have to pay $4+ per gallon like the rest of us. Also remember, most newspaper ink is petroleum based.

By MATT

July 16, 2008 4:36 PM | Link to this

Good to see such a poorly plan business in trouble. They have no competiion (except for the Internet) and their left winged publication felt the brunt. I am sorry to see people get laid off of course but a company with the worst customer service can never survive. The AJC should have known their market, mostly conservative, and catered to them. Also, the sports section should not tear down local teams, but give insight to fans. I hate reading Mark Bradley and Terrance Moore because of all of the hate and the flip flopping. Furman tells the story and gives insight. Stop trying to change the readers views with slanted news and just report what you see. All media outlets should listen to that last statement. Good luck to all of the folks laid off because of poor management.

By Citizen of the World

July 16, 2008 4:41 PM | Link to this

I’m sorry to hear that the AJC is having financial difficulty due to rising costs and declining revenues. It’s interesting to hear that readership is up, though. I’ve been wondering if perhaps the increased use of public transportation would increase sales. Some people may now have more downtime to enjoy the paper.

To those of you who turn away from your local newspaper (and CNN and the NYT and other publications) because of a perceived liberal slant, have you ever stopped to wonder why Fox news commentators, conservative columnists and right-wing talk show hosts spend so much time pointing a finger at the liberal/elite/mainstream media? Could it be because they want you to avoid competing viewpoints? Could it be so that when you are exposed to competing viewpoints you view them through a filter of suspicion and distrust? Could it be so that when you experience the cognitive dissonance that results when exposed to something that conflicts with your narrow worldview you can dismiss it as just so much liberal propaganda? Why do they spend so much time warning you against the liberal media? Huh? Me thinks they dost protest too much.

By bebe

July 16, 2008 4:49 PM | Link to this

Of course its all the liberals fault. Dear Republican Whiners - it doesn’t matter how many conservative voices are in the paper. This is about the failing economy - and you led us here. No one is going to spend money to advertise housing when no one is buying. End of story.

Why don’t you go start a conservative paper and see if you have any better luck selling advertising.

By bebe

July 16, 2008 4:51 PM | Link to this

how many executives got axed? yeah, thought so.

By AJC Employee

July 16, 2008 4:57 PM | Link to this

Thanks for your support Maurice.

An AJC Advertising Employee

By Pat B

July 16, 2008 5:02 PM | Link to this

This is so depressing! Reading the print version of the ajc is one of the small pleasures in life. I’ve been a subscriber all my adult life and will still renew my subscription, but I guess it will just take less time to read.

By Efrain

July 16, 2008 5:04 PM | Link to this

Maybe the problem is in the way you guys report news in a biased fashion, with sub-par writing (I can’t count the mistakes and corrections in the online edition every day), and a focus on “eye-catching” headlines (that the stories often don’t match up to very well).

Case in point- When the AJC lays people off, the headline reads “AJC Announces changes” and tosses around ditties like “involuntary separation program”. When other companies or even the city of Atlanta cuts jobs, the headline reads: “Job Cuts! Job Cuts! Slash, Slash!!!” and so on.

Yes it’s hard out there, but give us a break and stop writing every piece as an opinion piece, or something that is merely designed to catch our eye and make us click on it, or rehashing the same stories over and over and over. Give us somethng to buy! Oh wait. You can’t. You’re downsizing. Or is it rightsizing for you?

By Anna Burke

July 16, 2008 5:12 PM | Link to this

This makes me sick. Didn’t you eviscerate the editorial staff enough last year? Everybody who knows what they’re doing (and makes a decent living doing it) is being eliminated. I don’t care what green reporters say and think. I don’t trust their judgment. Give me the people who know the city and their subject. My yearly subscription runs ‘til September. I’ll see what the new, gutted paper looks like (I love Buyer’s Edge AND City Life!) and make up my mind about whether to renew then.

By Non-Citizen of the World

July 16, 2008 5:15 PM | Link to this

Citizen of the World,

You are so much smarter than the rest of us. We are humbled that you set aside a few minutes of your day to enlighten us.

On second thought, when you or a media outlet call its customers “dumb”, then prepare for the consequences.

Fox News and the WSJ are doing well—and they have something in common. You figure it out.

By liz lemon

July 16, 2008 5:16 PM | Link to this

Who would ever have thought that OTIS BRUMBY and his NEIGHBOR NEWSPAPERS would outlast the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. When I moved to Atlanta, those papers were the only place you could get neighborhood and suburban news. Then the AJC came in with the Extras. Now they’ve killed the Extras and Otis is on top again. Who’da thunk it? — Former Neighborette

By SpaceyG

July 16, 2008 5:18 PM | Link to this

OMG! Watch out overhead. Pigs are a’flyin’ in Dixie. Julia Wallace is interacting, with full transparency, with the local yokels out here. Wow. Color me like totally astonished! Surely a blog comment and a Facebook page will surely follow. I shouldn’t get too far ahead of myself though.

I have soooo got to run go Twitter/blog this now. This is big time news.

By Mike

July 16, 2008 5:29 PM | Link to this

Citizen of the World -

Would you feel differently if the AJC was as slanted to the right as it is to the left?

You seem to have no problem believing that not only is Fox slanted to the right. Why is it so hard for you to believe that the AJC is slanted to the left?

Also, your raging and sputtering doesn’t set you much apart from the “narrow” people you clearly detest. In fact your attribution of the fact that many feel the AJC is biased to those people being tricked by conservative commentators is a classic example of cognitive dissonance of which you blather. Your brain can’t accept that rational and informed people disagree with your view, so you create your storryline that we are all puppets of Rush Limbaugh. See how that works? “Huh”?

It’s easy to dismiss the concerns of a large group of your fellow citizens as a symptom of their own failings. The AJC has taken that approach for years, and as this board clearly demonstrates, it has cost them dearly.

By larry

July 16, 2008 5:32 PM | Link to this

I hate that this is happening. Toccoa lost its circulaton back on June 1st and i hate not being able to pick up the AJC and bring it home and actually read the paper. I first starting reading the AJC back when i was 14 and a habit was formed. While i go online when i can to read what is going on in my hometown, it is just not the same. I hate that this is happening for the families affected as well.

By raceman94

July 16, 2008 5:36 PM | Link to this

The only real shame is the fact that the paper isn’t becoming more conservative and less liberal. That, my friend, would make it perfect!

By griftdrift

July 16, 2008 5:36 PM | Link to this

Ms. Wallace,

Is this part of the plan to “show that we know Atlanta best, providing superlative news and information and becoming the preferred medium for connecting local communities”?

By cancelling my subscription

July 16, 2008 5:58 PM | Link to this

That’s it! I’m cancelling my subscription after this. The AJC keeps taking out all the parts of the paper I like to read. I’ll just buy the Sunday paper at the store and re-subscribe to the Marietta Daily Journal for local news. Such a shame!

By Kwijibo

July 16, 2008 6:14 PM | Link to this

As long as Sekou is still around, I’m good with the cuts. Hopefully, Luckovich was a casualty of the cutbacks.

By noahvale

July 16, 2008 6:41 PM | Link to this

The AJC has very little relevancy in my life. I didn’t even know the single copy price went up until picking up a paper at Publix last week.

I did go online last night after watching the All-Star game to get the results of the Dunwoody referundum. An AJC online article timed at 9 p.m. stated that according to poll interviews that the issue was far from resolved! The reporter interviewed one for and one against the referendum; focusing more on the person against. I guess the 80% who voted for cityhood must have done so “as the polls were closing.”

As long as the AJC continues it’s policy of activism reporting and not confining editorials to the Opinion pages, it will continue a downhill slide in Atlanta.

I can get all the news I need online and through the weekly: Sunday paper, Dunwoody/Sandy Springs Crier and Neighborhood News.

By Nancy

July 16, 2008 6:50 PM | Link to this

biased newspaper, Cynthia Tucker and Jay Bookman, What do you expect? This is why I don’t buy your paper. I read what I want to online for FREE!

By noahvale

July 16, 2008 6:51 PM | Link to this

Citizen of the World: I do not enjoy reading a newspaper or watching a news program that reports from an agenda. Leave it on the editorial pages. If you take away the opinion shows on Fox (mainly O’Reilly and Hannity and Colmes) its news coverage is balanced. Most controversial issues include opposing viewpoints. But then again, you probably keep your tv set on CNN…no, make the MSNBC.

By Beth

July 16, 2008 7:35 PM | Link to this

i don’t mind the rest of the paper, but the circulation department is horrible. ugh.

By TT

July 16, 2008 7:39 PM | Link to this

Wow, I guess bashing whitey and pushing socialism hasnt been very profitable, huh? I cant wait for the AJC to completely fold, which should be within 5 years.

By MJK

July 16, 2008 7:58 PM | Link to this

Today news delivery is about sticky eyes, not what’s produced in paper form. I welcome the changes and hope the new, leaner AJC will be better than before and I believe the Gwinnett section of the web site will benefit from the change and new focus.

By WTF?

July 16, 2008 8:21 PM | Link to this

AJC Moderator will at least some of the county blogs remain? I read them all (especially the southside blogs since that’s where we live) even though I don’t comment on them all.

I wish all of the employees who have lost (and will lose) their jobs the best. Praying you all find work soon regardless if you are a liberal or a conservative, losing a job still hurts.

By SicNtired

July 16, 2008 8:42 PM | Link to this

You still don’t get it AJC. Your readership is down and headed for levels you can’t sustain staff and the resources to go to print. What is so suprising? Your aricles for the longest point to: My SUV is too big, my house is too large, I’m racist, I’m a skinflint to give to charity, my carbon footprint is too big, I’m not green enough, I support the FairTax - anything you can rant over that bashes the suburbs and anyone downtown that does not fit your editor’s profile of what Georgia should look like from the eyes of a liberal. Race has nothing to do with it. You brought that up playing the race card. To watch you shrink is a confirmation that Georgia, with all of the rest of us standing together, embracing traditional American values, will get our news elsewhere.

By liz lemon

July 16, 2008 9:53 PM | Link to this

To By Canceling My Subscription: There you have my point! OTIS BRUMBY SLAYS THE AJC!

WHO

DA

THUNK

IT

30 years ago????

By BT fan

July 16, 2008 10:25 PM | Link to this

I read the ajc for 55 years with passion, but Cynthia Tucker, Jay Bookman and other left wing liberals drove me away. I have not paid for ajc in 10 years. As Ed stated, GA is a solid Republican state and does not want to be bashed by Liberal Democrats who are bias and prejudice. This is not really an economic move, its a flaw people see in its product.

By Alan

July 16, 2008 11:04 PM | Link to this

AJC owners, certainly you can’t be blind to how everyone in the Metro area feels about the paper.

Like most everyone, I miss reading the paper, I used to love reading the paper. But unfortunately I and many others one by one canceled our subscriptions because the paper shifted so far left in it’s reporting and editorial views. The 184 people losing their jobs can lay a large portion of the blame at the feet of McKinney, Bookman and Luckovich.

Here’s a news flash, 90% of your potential readers are conservative but you choose to bash and belittle their views as standard operating procedure. Change your ideology and your subscriber base will increase 10 fold - I will be first in line to subscribe again. Don’t and you will be laying off another 184 people and cutting more Sections this time next year.

By jim

July 16, 2008 11:26 PM | Link to this

<<>>

Actually, most areas have other local papers that actually do a better job of covering what actually happens in the immediate area. I know I get most of my news from the Forsyth County News (at least in the county) and some from the Forsyth Herald. Being a weekly though, they’re usually a little behind the curve.

I do read the AJC (print edition), and have seen a few times when they’ve scooped the “local” guys, but not often, so folding what little we actually had into metro will probably just make it easier to read.

Face it, it’s a tough world for print news right now, and, unfortunately, print media shot itself in the foot years ago when NOT charging for a subscription became the norm.

My sympathies go to those affected by the cuts. I don’t care what King George II says, things are tough out here.

By liz lemon

July 17, 2008 1:47 AM | Link to this

Hey, I LOVE all these bloggers who think that every single article in the paper has to appeal to THEM. I don’t read Sports, but I don’t say the section should be eliminated. Did it ever occur to you master-minds that certain sections are designed for certain demographics/readers? Buyer’s Edge, clearly, is not a section that would appeal to the typical Atlanta beer-swilling, SUV-driving, ESPN-junkie males (not that there’s anything wrong with that). So fine. Don’t read it. Is that so hard? Let those of us who LOVE it have it and LOOK FORWARD TO IT every week, like you look forward to reading your daily Sports section. And another thing: What’s with the online and print AJCs? It’s like Sybil. I realize that the “Interwebs” and the print edition have different demographics, but why can’t those Interwebs editors READ the print edition and be more creative about incorporating some of those features into their content??? I mean, honestly, what happened to the notion that last summer’s reorganization would enhance communication between online and print??

It’s all so frustrating. Ralph McGill is spinning in his grave.

By Mark

July 17, 2008 3:25 AM | Link to this

Unfortunately, the AJC will never admit or accept that they are suffering from the constant liberal bias brought on by the Cox family. Anne Cox was the single largest contributor to the last Democratic Presidential Candidate and if the AJC thinks we believe for a moment that she would stand by and let her newspaper empire provide unbiased news, you underestimate your readers. I cancelled my subscription - after more than 30 years - for the sole reason that the news was one-sided and nonstop. Most of those years I was living outside Georgia and the US and still buying. Now you are paying the price of that decision. I know you can’t see your own slant - but we do and we’re not buying.

By John

July 17, 2008 7:14 AM | Link to this

I enjoyed the Gwinnett Daily News even when the AJC bought the Gwinnett Daily News and put in the Gwinnett News in the AJC. If people in Gwinnett are so “wired and online savy community” maybe it is time for me to stop subscribing to the the physical paper and go online for all my news. It appears as if all that is important to the AJC is “inside I285” This is a sad day for the Gwinnett readers.

By alphamale

July 17, 2008 7:43 AM | Link to this

I understand the underlying business dynamics driving these changes, but I can not help but lament the AJC’s slow and somewhat self imposed march into oblivion. I use the net for news and commentary, but enjoy scanning and reading a real newspaper in the morning with a cup of coffee. That probably makes me “old school” or just old, but I don’t see the time when I will sit at the breakfast table and really read and absorb multiple articles from AJC writers on at ajc.com. It seems that the AJC is adhering to the flawed business model of shrinking itself to greatness through continued cuts to its paper based service. If this keeps up, the AJC will be nothing more than another net news outlet and one that, sadly, many of us will abandon.

By KIM

July 17, 2008 9:14 AM | Link to this

Rick BAdie’s column on Gwinnett issues will be greatly missed, as well as Susan Gast’s articles. The Gwinnett Daily Post may like to have you two added to their staff. Thank you, Rick and Susan, for your honest reporting of issues and facts. Our communities will not have your connection if the GDP does not pick you up.

By Tom

July 17, 2008 10:04 AM | Link to this

I guess all the hip hop artists and the gay contigent forgot to buy the paper. With so many glorifying articles about these two groups, you would think they would support you.

By AJC Moderator

July 17, 2008 10:42 AM | Link to this

WTF?: Yesterday’s announcements don’t impact the community blogs, and at this point we don’t anticipate any changes to any of them.

By RNB

July 17, 2008 11:45 AM | Link to this

I believe that’s two places in today’s newspaper where the claim is made that ‘total readership’ — meaning newsprint plus online — is up 7 percent. But nowhere can I find a much more relevant statistic: AJC dead-tree circulation is down nearly 17 percent over the last four years, per the Audit Bureau of Circulations. You guys can’t solve your problems; you won’t even admit you have a problem.

By Tom

July 17, 2008 12:05 PM | Link to this

To Julia,editor. Obviously, the news that you have been printing isn’t important to your readers. Paid circulation has dropped from 700,000+ to 350,000+. Maybe the readers want something from middle America instead of so-called celebrities having multiple children out of wedlock and gays wanting to justify their lifestyle.

By Mike

July 17, 2008 12:50 PM | Link to this

Any chance anyone in AJC management is reading this blog?

Any chance they might actually listen to what the critics are saying?

Nah. Better to keep churning out liberal twaddle.

By Anthony

July 17, 2008 2:10 PM | Link to this

These people throwing around the liberal word like they know what it means. God the sheep that live in this state.

By J. Goldberg

July 17, 2008 3:05 PM | Link to this

You are, of course, right about the mis-use of the word “liberal,” Anthony.

The correct term for the philosophy evinced by the editorial page of the Journal-Constitution is “fascism.”

By Tom

July 17, 2008 3:33 PM | Link to this

Anthony, only you would mention sheep.

By AJC Moderator

July 17, 2008 5:22 PM | Link to this

There are a few comments (RNB, Tom) on our circulation declines, so wanted to mention that recent circulation results are not a surprise… AJC’s distribution footprint has been significantly refocused over the past 15 months. We’ve also made a few strategic changes like transitioning our classroom program from print to on-line, resulting in a large volume reduction of the print product. Also, our response to our advertiser’s demands to focus on providing a quality circulation audience has resulted in a number of programs being eliminated. These examples, combined with the reduction in our distribution footprint, tell a more complete story on strategic volume reduction over the past year.

By ConservativeAnthony

July 17, 2008 5:44 PM | Link to this

Anthony:

You don’t know the meaning of the word conservative. I don’t know you are anything about you, so my statement just demonstrates what an intolerant idiot jerk I am. I am just a mindless idiot who can’t come up with anything meaningful to say so I just blurt out nonsense like to show people what a bleating sheep I am.

See! I am just like you!

By War Eagle

July 17, 2008 8:54 PM | Link to this

I know 25-30 people to has stopped ajc subscription, plus 10—12 advertisers who are feel the liberal editorial movement hurts their area of content… ajc needs balance, not bias..Will Cox save the paper>>??

By RNB

July 18, 2008 6:50 AM | Link to this

“…our advertiser’s demands to focus on providing a quality circulation audience…” Is this like the joke in ‘Spinal Tap’ about how the band’s audiences haven’t been shrinking, they’ve just become more ‘selective’?

By Karen

July 18, 2008 1:33 PM | Link to this

Is the coupon insert being removed from the Sunday newspaper? I loved the coupons. I use them to try products that I normally would not try at their full price. Also, everytime my subscription renewal comes up I usually renew just so I can have the coupons and catch up on a week’s worth of news at one time.

By NRB

July 19, 2008 6:22 AM | Link to this

Notice how the AJC employees absolutely refuse to acknowledge or discuss the fact that the outrageous liberal/anti-American bias of their staff is the main reason for a shrinking subscriber base.

By Mr. D

July 19, 2008 10:29 AM | Link to this

At this point in time, your constant promotion and support of every liberal, leftist, marxist scheme proposed by the democrats is something mainstream America does not have to pay to read about. If your efforts and those of the TV network news along with CNN are successful, that may change soon. In the meantime, conservatives, do not support these propaganda machines of the democratic party. Let,s hope the current trend of reduced readership of these liberal papers like the AJC continues until they decide to persue a policy of fairness in their reporting.

By fortt3

July 19, 2008 11:46 AM | Link to this

My decision whether to renew again will be based on your response to the following questions: 1. You say the daily newspaper’s metro and sports sections will expand to handle news from Gwinnett and the other targeted sections. Will every article that WOULD have gone into the Gwinnett News now be somewhere else? I suspect it will only be the articles that, like the past few months, you would have placed in the main sections also, maybe a couple of extra. 2. What happens to the Gwinnett Vent? 3. You have only mentioned news and sports — what about opinion? What happens to Susan Gast, Rick Badie and the rest? 4. Saturday Gwinnett faith/religion?

My guess is that the folks over at the Gwinnett Daily Post and its owner are on Cloud 9!

By Linda Smith

July 20, 2008 10:27 PM | Link to this

My Sunday afternoon has been ruined … no AJC here in the “sticks”. We’re so close to SC and have SC TV and SC newspaper and our own little weekly and we’ve depended on the AJC to keep our GA news safe. We counted on it Covering Dixie like the Dew. Please can’t we at least get a Sun. paper…… online is NOT the regular paper and I like the coupons. Please!!!!!!!!

By CityLife

July 20, 2008 11:46 PM | Link to this

We already have enough Gwinnett news spilling over in the AJC. Why is there a need for more? Even in the sports section, Gwinnett athletes get more news coverage than students that are 5 minutes away from AJC. I’ve always wondered why Gwinnett get’s so much attention in AJC. I say good riddance. I get tired of reading about Gwinnett news in my ATLANTA paper. I really doubt this newspaper is loosing money, because of whiny conservatives want everything to go there way. I’m sad to see CityLife go, even though the page is ALWAYS full of bad news, nothing good about living in the city. NOTHING Do you hear me AJC? Somewhere the ball was dropped, nobody wrote anything. Just regular news story, a Vent and that’s it. I looked forward to reading it every Thursday, to see if something good would show up.

By tom bowden

July 21, 2008 12:57 PM | Link to this

As the sun continues to set on the things that made Atlanta a great city, I cast a sad eye from Jacksonville on yet another example of the “change&#