The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is heading into a new, expansive era.
After years exiled in the suburbs, the AJC will move to Midtown next year, the news operation's Publisher Andrew Morse announced to the Rotary Club of Atlanta on Sept. 18, according to Maria Saporta's Saporta Report.
The AJC will do business in an office building with AJC signage, Morse said. The company plans to offer newsmaker events at the new site.
It also appears that the endangered print newspaper will have a reprieve. Morse told the Rotary Club that the print operation will continue into the near future, while the company builds up its digital operation.
The Cox media company aims for a rapid rise to 500,000 digital subscriptions in the next few years, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article.
In meeting that ambitious goal to outpace The New York Times' digital buildup in recent years, the AJC will go on a hiring binge, a dizzying shift in direction from the company's frequent buyouts this century as the print newspaper's circulation and ad revenue plummeted.
After years of retrenching its news coverage, the AJC is planning to establish bureaus across Georgia, with reporters in Athens, Augusta, Columbus and Macon, the WSJ said.
Recently hired Savannah correspondent Adam Van Bremmer is already boosting coastal coverage with in-depth features and breaking news stories.
The AJC in recent weeks has shown robust news coverage not seen in years, such as sending a reporter to Jacksonville after the Dollar Store slayings.
With ace state reporter Greg Bluestein and columnist Patricia Murphy, the AJC gives blanket coverage of the state's emergence as a national political barometer. Young reporters like City Hall beat writer Riley Bunch have given the newspaper new energy.
The AJC's move to Midtown acknowledges the neighborhood's rise as the city's media and technology center, seeded by Georgia Tech's dazzling business development projects.
As an AJC alum of 26 years, I'm proud to see that the Cox family's old media company will keep playing a major role in Atlanta's future.
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