By: (AP) The
Atlanta Journal will cease afternoon publication, combining with
The Atlanta Constitution for morning editions starting on Nov. 5, Publisher Roger S. Kintzel announced Wednesday.
The publications, owned by Cox Enterprises Inc., have shared a news staff since 1982 and already publish combined editions as
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on weekends.
"The change to morning delivery is driven by two main developments: The steady decline of
Journal readership throughout the nineties, more dramatic the last two years; and the high cost and difficulty in delivering a paper in the afternoon," Kintzel said in a letter to readers.
No layoffs are expected.
The newspapers have a combined daily circulation of 418,944. In the six months ending in April, the
Journal had an average circulation of 87,840.
Afternoon delivery will be phased out over a few months and subscribers to the
Journal will be converted to
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The two newspapers had separate editorial boards. The two boards will merge and the editorial opinion section will expand to three pages, Kintzel said.
Cynthia Tucker, editor of the
Constitution's opinion pages will head of a new board. Jim Wooten, editor of the
Journal opinion pages, will be associate editor.
The
Atlanta Journal, with "Covers Dixie like the dew" as its slogan beneath the masthead, was founded in 1883, 15 years after the
Constitution. Former Ohio Gov. James M. Cox purchased the
Journal in 1939 and the
Constitution in 1950.
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