Dublin, Ga. – The Georgia Trust for Local News announced Wednesday it has purchased The Macon Telegraph and The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, moving two of the state’s oldest newspapers out of corporate hands and into local, nonprofit ownership.
The sale by McClatchy Media is the first change of ownership for either paper in 20 years. The Telegraph has covered Middle Georgia for 200 years and won a Pulitzer Prize for specialized reporting. The Ledger-Enquirer, Columbus’ leading news source, has won two Pulitzers for public service.
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The Georgia Trust is a state affiliate of the National Trust for Local News, a nonprofit that buys and rebuilds local newsrooms around the country. With these two acquisitions, the Georgia Trust now runs 21 newspapers and digital outlets across Middle, West, and South Georgia, reaching more than 1 million people. Its Columbus coverage area extends into eastern Alabama.
In Macon, the Georgia Trust already operates The Macon Melody, a community newsroom it launched in 2024 with a $5 million Knight Foundation grant. The Melody will fold into The Telegraph later this summer as a dedicated local section, and the combined newsroom will be based at Mercer University’s Reg Murphy Center for Collaborative Journalism. In Columbus, the Ledger-Enquirer newsroom is moving to a new space downtown.
Funding for the purchases came largely from local sources: the Peyton Anderson Foundation backed the Telegraph deal, honoring former Telegraph owner Peyton T. Anderson Jr., while more than a dozen individuals and organizations contributed through the Community Foundation of the Chattahoochee Valley to fund the Ledger-Enquirer acquisition.
“This is a great day for local news in Georgia,” said Tom Wiley, CEO of the National Trust for Local News. “These vital community assets will not only be preserved, but also reinvigorated and strengthened for a vibrant future.”
To celebrate the deal, the Georgia Trust is temporarily lifting the digital paywalls on both papers’ websites.
The acquisitions follow the Georgia Trust’s hiring of a new executive director, Cynthia DuBose, who started June 1. Under the new ownership structure, both papers will be led by interim editors reporting to DuBose, marking their first local leadership in more than 20 years.
“What makes this historic transaction especially exciting is the groundswell of national, statewide and community-based financial support to enable these storied publications’ shift to nonprofit ownership and local management,” DuBose said. “Under the Georgia Trust’s stewardship, these publications will recapture their role in civic leadership, and ensure a strong commitment to hyper-local coverage and enhanced community engagement.”
