Athens Banner-Herald

The newspaper traces its history to the Southern Banner newspaper. The Southern Banner began publishing on March 20, 1832.[3] The Banner's masthead and owners went unchanged until 1872, when the paper was sold and the masthead changed to North-East Georgian and then to Athens Weekly Georgian upon another sale, before returning to its original masthead in 1879. The title changed again upon its merger with its rival the Southern Watchman to form the Athens Banner-Watchman in 1882. It was owned and operated by T.L. Gantt. In 1889, the masthead became the Athens Weekly Banner for the weekly edition; later this became The Weekly Banner until the cessation of weekly editions in 1921.

In 1902, the daily newspaper (at that time titled the Athens Daily Banner) became the Athens Banner under the ownership of H.J. Rowe. It continued under this title until 1923 when the newspaper merged with the Athens Daily Herald to become the Banner-Herald. This became the Athens Banner-Herald in 1933.[3] Earl Braswell served as the newspaper's publisher, a position he held until 1965.

In 1965, Billy and Charles Morris of Morris Communications purchased the newspaper. That same year, on June 17, the weekly Athens Advertiser changed its name to the Athens Daily News and became a seven-day morning paper to compete with the afternoon Athens Banner-Herald. On June 17, 1965, the weekly Athens Advertiser changed its name to the Athens Daily News and became a seven-day morning paper, competing with the afternoon Athens Banner-Herald. Glenn Vaughn wrote in the Athens Daily News'' first editorial page: "Our goal is to produce a daily newspaper that will be equal to this magnificent community." The Athens Daily News was independent, and is partially known for being where Lewis Grizzard began his career as a Sports writer. On December 24, 1967, the Morris family, which owned the Athens Banner-Herald, bought the Athens Daily News. The Morris family continued publishing both papers, though eventually both editorial staffs merged.

In 1991, the News and Banner-Herald moved into a new office located at the corner of Thomas and Broad streets. The building came to be known as The News Building. During this time, the Athens Banner-Herald established its web presence.In 1996, the newspapers started a Web page, Athenaeum. The following year, the newspaper started OnlineAthens.com, its current Web page. In 2001, the News and Banner-Herald merged into a single morning paper under the Banner-Herald name. In December 2011, Morris Communications reached an agreement to sell The News Building to Lulscal, LLC.[4]

The newspaper routinely wins awards in Georgia Press Association and Georgia Associated Press competitions, including Story of the Year honors in 2002, 2004, and 2006.

• Official website