After New Investment and a Big Subscription Push, is AJC Circulation Actually Down?
There are some updated circulation numbers for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution curtesy of its annual Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation published in this morning’s print/e-paper edition.
The form is published annually and is a throwback to when publications were print based and relied on favorable postal rates. But the current form does include sections on paid electronic copies.
Today’s shows a total print and paid circulation of 92,000 for the last year’s average issue and 114,000 for the single issue nearest to filing date.
Both those numbers are down from 2023 which showed the average print and paid digital circulation at 98,000 and the nearest issue (typically a higher circulation Sunday edition) at 128,000.
The decline of 6,000 and 14,000 in the respective numbers is less than the 10,000 and 23,000 declines the paper suffered from 2022–2023, but come after a big push for new subscribers including a major advertising effort.
Despite new investment in digital content and heavily discounted subscription offers, paid digital copies only increased by 3,600 from 2023 to 2024. That’s not enough to offset the decline in print sales by 10,000.
This form may not be the best metric to judge whether a paper is growing or declining subscribers, but it is publicly available and offers an annual point of comparison.
In interviews and profiles, including one I was highly critical of by NPR, AJC publisher Andrew Morse has set a goal of increasing digital subscribers to half a million by 2026.
Earlier this year, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported on layoffs as part of a newsroom reorganization but Morse insisted overall hiring was still ongoing.
The Chronicle followed-up with a story about both local and national headwinds the paper faces.
National media reporters, critics, and thought leaders have mostly rallied behind the AJC and Morse’s plan. But Atlanta may have to start asking what happens if it doesn’t work.
