Letter to the Community - Atlanta Jewish Times

Thank you for your patronage and support of the Atlanta Jewish Times (AJT) through the years. As you know, the newspaper business is not quite the same as it was a generation ago, just look at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution which recently abandoned its printed newspaper.

To remain relevant as well as economically viable, all printed subscriber-based periodicals have undergone significant transformation and the AJT is no exception. One major change is to have a robust online presence, which we have with one of the best Jewish websites in the country. This has become the new and most common way readers now consume news. One hurdle the newspaper industry faces is that online advertising revenue draws only a small fraction of the revenue that paper advertisements generate to meet the increases in expenses that have come from the cost of paper, printing, and distribution. To meet economic goals, many periodicals are creating new revenue streams and one of these new streams is community events.

This is half the reason that the AJT re-created the new Atlanta Jewish Life Festival, an annual event, and has taken over the Kosher BBQ Festival from the Hebrew Order of David. The other reason is to further the paper’s mission of Keeping Jewish Atlanta Connected. Both events bring thousands of community members together for a day of family fun.

A couple years ago, the Atlanta Jewish Life Foundation (AJLF) — atlantajewishlifefoundation.com — was created specifically for the purpose of supporting the paper as well as events like these that further our mission. While Bernie Marcus z”l during his life had been the most recent benefactor to the AJT, it is now time to garner more community-wide support.

Rest assured, the Marcus Foundation is still the AJT’s largest donor (through the AJLF), but we can no longer rely on a single source for our survival. The Atlanta Jewish Times is over a 100-year-old community asset and now it needs to be supported by the community.

The Atlanta Jewish Times is celebrating 100 years of continuous publication. In my opinion, it is still a valuable asset to the community providing unique content, written by local community members, about local community members, organizations, and events, for every demographic of the local Jewish community. I trust you see the benefits the paper has given the community over the past century and are willing to support the paper for the next generation.