New managing editor joins Griffin Daily News

The Griffin Daily News welcomed its new managing editor, Averi Caldwell, in late August.

A graduate of the University of Georgia’s journalism program, Caldwell returned to her hometown of Griffin with a commitment to community news and fresh perspectives.

During her time as an undergraduate and graduate student at UGA, Caldwell spent her time writing and editing for various publications. From newspapers to magazines, she found ways to interact with the community to bring compelling and important stories to audiences.

“My favorite part of journalism has always been the moments where I get to highlight the community,” Caldwell said. “One of the best ways to understand a place is to look at their news. I hope to reintroduce people to our community while also reintroducing the community to the news.”

After her time in Athens, Caldwell is excited to write about Griffin and neighboring communities, serving the paper’s dedicated audience and reaching new readers.

“I grew up in this town,” Caldwell said. “After six years in Athens, I’m so happy to come back home and put something good back into my community.”

From hard-hitting news to heart-warming community stories, Caldwell hopes to make The Griffin Daily News your number one source of reliable information.

“We are proud to welcome Griffin native and UGA master’s graduate Averi Caldwell as the new managing editor of The Griffin Daily News,” said Publisher Rachael Raney. “Averi brings not only a strong academic background and professional skillset, but also a personal connection to this community that makes her uniquely suited for this role. Her leadership will ensure we continue to serve andprovide trusted, relevant news coverage that serves our readers and reflects the values of Griffin and Spalding County.”

— Griffin Daily News

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Times-Journal Inc. promotes Rhoads

Times-Journal Inc. recently chose Anthony Rhoads as the editor of The Clayton News-Daily, The Henry Herald, The Jackson Progress-Argus, The Newton Citizen and The Rockdale Citizen.

Rhoads, who has 30 years of experience in the newspaper industry, had been a general assignment reporter for The Clayton News-Daily and The Henry Herald since April 2023.

Rhoads was a staff writer and news editor for Neighbor Newspapers from 1995 to 1999, most of which he worked as news editor of The Rockdale Neighbor.

From 2000 to 2005, he was a sports writer for The Clayton News-Daily and The Henry Herald and sports editor of The Newton Citizen from 2005 to 2007.

In 2007, he went to The Griffin Daily News as assistant manager editor, a position he held until October of 2021.

From 2022 to 2023, Rhoads was a freelance sports writer for The Gwinnett Daily Post, The Clayton News-Daily, The Henry Herald, The Newton Citizen, The Rockdale Citizen and The Albany Herald.

Rhoads succeeds longtime editor Alice Queen, who joined The Rockdale Citizen staff in 1995 and was named editor in 1996.

Queen also became editor of The Newton Citizen when it was launched in 2004. She later became editor of The Clayton News-Daily, The Henry Herald and The Jackson Progress-Argus.

Queen will still be writing part-time covering Newton County.

— Rockdale Citizen, Conyers

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Couple buys Charlton County Herald

Jamie Gardner, CEO of Gardner Newspapers Inc., has announced the sale of the Charlton County Herald to Folkston residents Paul and Leslie Kulwik. The transfer of ownership took place June 25.

The Kulwiks are recent transplants to the area, and Paul Kulwik has been working as a photographer and delivery driver for the newspaper. Leslie Kulwik works as an executive assistant with the Okefenokee Chamber of Commerce and owns a bookkeeping firm called Balanced Business Bookkeeping.

“So … if you would have told me 15 months ago that once I had moved south to Folkston, Georgia, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, you would be purchasing the Charlton Herald newspaper … I’d be saying, ‘Ain’t no way,’” Paul Kulwik said. “But as fate and timing has shown me, things happen for a reason.

Kulwick said he and his wife were running a successful photography company near Pittsburgh, Pa., for nearly 30 years when the COVID-19 pandemic occurred. The pandemic severly affected the business, leading them to close it and seek a new home further south. Eventually they found Folkston, Ga.

“We love our new life here in Folkston,” he said. We have some fantastic new friends, and have met some beautifully wonderful folks here in town, and we have absolutely zero regrets moving here.

“So I want to thank Mr. Jamie Gardner for giving us this opportunity to continue the Herald’s 127 years of reporting news and events here in Charlton County,” he added.

“I am so grateful to the people of Charlton County for the support you have shown to our family since 2016,” Gardner said. “In 2018 my wife, Amy, and I started Gardner Printing Services. That company has since grown at a rapid pace and is requiring our attention more and more daily. That has led to less focus on the Herald and that is unacceptable to our company’s commitment to the communities where we publish. The growth of this other company prompted us to start looking for someone to take over the reins of the Herald. I believe that Paul and Leslie are the perfect fit and will give the newspaper and community the attention it deserves. My family and I wish the Kulwiks and Charlton County the very best moving forward.”

— Charlton County Herald, Folkston

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Crane honored by UGA Grady College

It was a day for celebration, with a touch of sentimentality, as alumni, faculty and friends of Grady College gathered for Grady Salutes on April 25, 2025. For the second year in a row, Grady Salutes took place over lunch on the Schnitzer Family Media Lawn in front of the College that means so much to many.

Six people were also inducted into the Grady College Fellowship, an honor for friends of the college whose accomplishments, friendship and service to the industries they serve have made a positive impact on Grady College.

Among them was Bill Crane, Grady graduate in 1984 and founder of CSI Crane, an associate member of Georgia Press Association.

Crane whose third grandchild was born that day, offered advice to young professionals.

“Don’t be afraid to do what’s right,” Crane said. “Don’t be afraid to be that strident voice that doesn’t always agree with everyone else in your newsroom. Don’t be afraid to challenge the status quo. Some of those challenges and some of those attempts, you will not be successful. Just remember, when you fall, in the immortal words of Fred Astaire, ‘Pick yourself up. Dust yourself off. Start all over again.’ ”

— Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia

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Georgia Trust for Local News acquires The Dawson News

By Carlton Fletcher, The Albany Herald

As Tommy Rountree shared stories from his career at The Dawson News, a career that’s just shy of 50 years, a thought occurred.

“This is home; 139 West Lee Street in Dawson, Georgia, has been my home for my entire life,” Rountree said, allowing just a hint of melancholy to color his words. “I grew up in this building; I’ve spent a lot of time here since I was a little boy.

“It’s going to feel strange to wake up on Monday morning and not come to this building.”

Rountree bid his “other home” goodbye early in May, turning the reins of the newspaper that had been an integral part of his family’s life for the past 79 years over to DuBose Porter, the executive director of The Georgia Trust for Local News, which began publication of the News May 7. Utilizing reporters affiliated with The Georgia Trust — primarily from The Albany Herald — and other local contributors, The Georgia Trust will continue operations of the newspaper that had become synonymous with the Rountree family for the better part of a century.

“I knew DuBose Porter’s history in the newspaper business, and I knew about the Georgia Trust,” the now former editor/publisher of the Dawson paper said. “I think this is a perfect fit for our little newspaper. DuBose has a love for the newspaper business; he has a passion for it. I knew that he, working through The Trust, would be a good outcome for our community. It’s important for a community like ours to have a weekly newspaper.”

Porter praised the Rountree family for the work they’ve done in establishing The Dawson News as a key part of this small community some 25 miles west of Albany.

“Tommy Rountree, his dad (Carl) and his family are among Georgia’s great newspaper folk,” Porter said. “We are honored that the family has the trust and confidence in the Georgia Trust for Local News to carry forward this legacy publication for Dawson and Terrell County.

“We are a community newspaper company, and The Dawson News fits in our mission. We look forward to serving the people here and recording their history.”

The Dawson News will be the 20th newspaper under the Georgia Trust for Local News.

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Reporter celebrates opening of Macon office

The Monroe-Macon Reporter opened its first Macon office on March 27 in Suite 104 at 1760 Bass Road. The office is leased from Joel Kennedy of CityLine Commercial.

“In a time when many newspapers are closing for good in this country,” Publisher Will Davis told about 40 gathered for a ribbon cutting last Thursday, “we’re thrilled to be one of the few that are adding a second office.”

Don Daniel started The Reporter in 1972, and the 85-year-old was on hand to see the current owner open the newspaper a second bureau some 53 years later. The Reporter has been the longtime legal organ newspaper for Monroe County. For years, Bibb County subscribers to the Reporter had asked the newspaper to expand into a regional newspaper covering Macon. Two years ago, the Reporter did just that.

Davis told the crowd at the ribbon cutting that the response the Reporter has gotten in Bibb County has been phenomenal, justifying the addition of the Macon office. Davis said elected officials don’t always love having journalists asking tough questions. But he noted that it results in a better community and better government when there’s a strong, locally-owned newspaper committed to the truth and willing to hold public officials accountable.

Davis noted that founding father Thomas Jefferson had a love/hate relationship with newspapers, yet even he acknowledged how important they were to having an informed citizenry that holds government accountable.

“Jefferson said that if he had to choose between having a government without newspapers, or newspapers without government,” said Davis, “he would not hesitate to choose the latter.”

As it begins its third year covering Macon-Bibb, the Reporter has already earned a reputation for holding local government accountable, including interviews with the families of murder victims in its coverage of the DA’s office losing multiple murder cases, a look at extravagant spending on travel by top officials at the Macon Water Authority, which led director Ron Shipman to publicly cut up his credit card at a public meeting, and in-depth investigations into the school speed cameras. Those investigations found that Macon-Bibb had strong-armed private schools into erecting the cameras even though the law says it’s up to the schools, helping prompt Sheriff David Davis to suspend the cameras, and compelling the legislature to consider banning the cameras. The Reporter also was the first media outlet to report how many citations the cameras were issuing for what was, at the time, $8 million.

Davis said it helps that Monroe and Bibb counties have so much overlap. Interstate 75 makes travel between homes and businesses in the two counties so easy that it can seem the counties are growing together. The newspaper and its growing audience have also attracted a large number of Bibb County advertisers who have underwritten the growth.

— Monroe County Reporter, Forsyth

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Ellijay paper’s Wilder honored by local chamber of commerce

Rene Wilder of the Times-Courier of Ellijay was chosen as the winner the 2024 Sally Daniels Member of the Year Award from the Gilmer Chamber of Commerce.

Wilder was honored for her dedication to helping with chamber events and her volunteer work. As a chamber ambassador, Wilder is an advocate for the organization with local businesses and aiding in the community in general.

She joined the Times-Courier in April and hit the ground running. “Rene has been a great addition,” said Publisher Andy Ashurst. “She is everything you look for in an associate. Rene has a positive attitude, cares about the community and wants to help businesses in Gilmer County grow.”

— Times-Courier, Ellijay

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Scoggins joins Hartwell Sun as editor/publisher

Elbert County native Rose Scoggins has been named editor/publisher of The Hartwell Sun.

Community Newspapers Inc. (CNI) Northeast Georgia Regional Publisher Keith Barlow made the announcement Dec. 18.

Scoggins is the former editor/publisher of The Elberton Star, where she was awarded the prestigious Freedom of Information Award from the Georgia Press Association in the 2023 Better Newspaper Contest (BNC). She has also taken home numerous awards in the investigative reporting, editorial writing, photography and multimedia categories of the BNC.

Scoggins is no stranger to The Sun as she was a frequent contributor during her time as a student at the University of Georgia (UGA), covering softball, volleyball and basketball. She also previously served as an interim paginator in 2023 and contributed stories when needed.

While she grew up in Bowman and Royston, Scoggins has deep roots in the Airline community as her grandparents – Roger and Gail Leopard – and great-grandmother – Katrenia Saylors – still live there.

“I like to think I have a bit of ink in my veins,” Scoggins said. “Even more so, I’ve discovered that community newspapers – including the communities and people they serve – are what I’m most passionate about. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to return to CNI and serve Hart County in this role. I look forward to immersing myself in the community and being able to witness what makes it special.”

Scoggins most recently worked in the Development and Alumni Relations Office at UGA as a communications coordinator. She lives in Elberton with her cat Dewy – named in honor of the Dewy Rose community.

— The Hartwell Sun