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| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | Hearst Corporation (1912–1939 James M. Cox (1939; disestablishment) |
| Founder | Fred Loring Seely |
| Founded | 1906 (119 years ago) (1906) |
| Ceased publication | 1939 (86 years ago) (1939) |
| Political alignment | Democratic |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | Atlanta,Georgia, United States |
| Circulation | 75,178 (peak) |
The Atlanta Georgian was an American daily afternoon newspaper inAtlanta, Georgia, United States.
Founded byNew Jersey nativeFred Loring Seely, the first issue was April 25, 1906, with editorJohn Temple Graves. They mainly criticized saloons and theconvict-lease system.
In February 1907, Seely expanded the newspaper by buying out theAtlanta News.[1]
The newspaper was struggling whenWilliam Randolph Hearst[clarification needed] purchased it in the spring of 1912 (his ninth newspaper property[2]); he transformed it into ayellow press, making it much more successful, if less respected. Journalist James B. Nevin became editor (continuing until his death in 1931) and started the Empty Stocking Fund in 1927. That year the newspaper was awarded theSutlive Trophy, given by theGeorgia Press Association.
By the 1930s, it was the third-largest paper in Atlanta with a circulation of 75,000: far behind theJournal (98,000) and theConstitution (91,000).[3]
In 1939,James M. Cox[clarification needed] purchased the newspaper at the same time asThe Atlanta Journal (nowThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution). He closed down theGeorgian, with its last issue being December 18, 1939. By this time, the Hearst empire had decreased to fewer than twenty newspapers.
In 1906,The Atlanta Georgian and theAtlanta News, at the behest of gubernatorial candidatesHoke Smith andClark Howell, began publishing a series of unsubstantiated sensationalized stories[4] claiming that white women were being attacked and raped by black men. This was part of the candidates' attempts to disenfranchise blacks by inciting white fear.
It culminated in theAtlanta race riot on September 22, 1906, when the newspapers reported four alleged attacks on white women by black men. After the newspapers came out, a white mob of over 10,000 gathered and started attacking, beating and stabbing any blacks in the streets, as well as going to places frequented by blacks and assaulting them there. This resulted in the murder of 25–40 African-Americans. None of the culprits were arrested or prosecuted for their crimes.
