How the AJC Is Betting Its Future on Digital

“It’s taking longer and costing greater than we hoped,” Morse mentioned, “however the tempo of progress is phenomenal for an area outlet.”

Video, Creators, and the Fashionable Media Mindset

In Morse’s view, AJC is a media model, not a newspaper. 

That reframing has guided the corporate’s funding in state-of-the-art video studios, podcasts, and digital franchises that stretch past conventional beats. The purpose is to make AJC’s journalism seen throughout each platform the place Atlantans devour media.

That features leaning right into a creator-driven mannequin during which journalists function recognizable personalities. Reporters like political correspondent Greg Bluestein and columnist Ernie Suggs already command devoted native followings, and AJC is constructing on that power. The corporate can also be experimenting with exterior contributors — native cooks, musicians, and public figures — to broaden its viewers base. 

“Native information organizations have to assume like native media corporations,” Morse mentioned.

Navigating AI and the New Viewers Panorama

As search and social site visitors decline, AJC is rethinking easy methods to attain and retain readers.

Morse described the corporate’s viewers mannequin not as a funnel however as a loop, with a number of entry factors — newsletters, occasions, company partnerships, and paid group subscriptions by universities and main employers. The strategy reduces acquisition prices whereas deepening loyalty.

AI presents each a risk and a possibility. Morse mentioned AJC has held exploratory conversations with giant language mannequin corporations about partnerships that might improve discoverability, however he’s cautious of one-off licensing offers. The corporate’s long-term worth, he mentioned, depends upon defending direct buyer relationships. 

“If we signal away what provides our model worth, we’ll have mortgaged our future for fast money,” he mentioned.

Reintroducing the Model—and Setting a Blueprint

As AJC’s enterprise evolves, so too is its model identification. 

The corporate not too long ago launched a brand new marketing campaign positioning itself as “the substance and soul of the South,” following an earlier community-focused effort known as For the Better Atlanta. The rebrand displays AJC’s broader purpose of reframing its picture as a dynamic, digitally pushed establishment reasonably than a legacy paper in decline.

It additionally matches into a bigger pattern of publishers increasingly launching brand-marketing campaigns — many for the primary time.

Cox Enterprises has supported the hassle with important long-term funding, which Morse mentioned has been vital to sustaining transformation at a sensible tempo. However AJC’s final success depends upon having a reputable plan and the precise workforce to execute it. 

“You want expertise, tradition, and time,” he mentioned. “We’re fortunate to have all three.”