The Gainesville Times and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution have announced a new business partnership that will result in the AJC and its affiliated products being printed at The Times in Gainesville starting in 2022.
Under the new agreement, The Times will print the daily and Sunday editions of the AJC and will handle all packaging and inserting responsibilities for the state’s largest daily newspaper.
In preparation for printing AJC products, The Times will be making a major investment in upgrading and modernizing its printing and packaging operations on Green Street in Gainesville, including some building renovation. A number of new employees also will be hired to facilitate printing and packaging of the AJC.
“To be asked to join in a partnership to print one of the South’s best daily newspapers is certainly an honor and a privilege. It is a great responsibility and one we take very seriously,” said Charles Hill Morris Jr, owner of Metro Market Media, parent company of The Times.
“Newspapers are too important to fail, and agreements like this help to assure that they will be around for a long time. We look forward to working with the AJC for many years to come in a joint effort to provide quality journalism in a print format,” said Morris.
The business collaboration is one leaders of both companies see as a positive move to sustain their respective newspapers as strong business entities at a time when newspapers nationwide face serious financial challenges.
"The quality and timeliness of delivering our printed product to our subscribers is very important to us and we are happy to be partnering with another family-owned publisher that believes in the importance and survival of local news. We see this as the beginning of a strong partnership that will help both organizations," said AJC publisher Donna Hall.
Printing and packaging of the AJC in Gainesville is expected to start in the first quarter of next year.
The Gainesville Times is the sister paper of the Forsyth County News and the Dawson County News.