In highly predictible news that happens to be about the news, the Journal-Constitution has adopted a policy to avoid mention of competing news outlets. Simply put, reports from or events hosted by any journalistic source besides the Journal-Constitution, WSB-TV, or WSB radio cannot be sourced by name. Obviously, stories written by the Associated Press are not under this restriction.
Why do the executives of this paper feel so threatened? For one thing, the Journal-Constitution's print circulation has been falling for years, as has that of newspapers in most of the world. Last year, the paper's staff were moved from the steadily emptying brutalist building at 72 Marietta Street to an office park in Dunwoody. The Journal-Constitution, upon its exit, donated the building to the city. Whether they had no choice but to move or simply felt more comfortable in the suburbs is still a mystery to me, but Creative Loafing was rather colorful in its imagining of their motives.
Much has changed since the Journal and Constitution were merged in 1982, and even in the last few years. The paper doesn't seem to be the force it once was in the city, almost as though its writers are acknowledging its dwindling relevance. It is my belief that such publications as Creative Loafing, Atlanta Progressive News, the Daily Report and the Atlanta Voice, among others I might have forgotten, are the future of journalism in the city, alongside blogs such as this. We are already past the age of highly centralized news media in Atlanta, and I truly couldn't be happier about it.
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