No more news?

AJC cuts could affect the Collegiate Readership Program on campus.

The Atlanta-Journal Constitution announced Wednesday it will cut seven counties from circulation at the end of April, including Athens-Clarke and Oconee. The newspaper will also cut 30 percent of its full-time news staff – 90 people – to lower costs.

Signaling the decline of the newspaper industry, a shrinking AJC could also affect how you get your news in the morning through the Collegiate Readership Program.

The program, sponsored by USA Today, gives students copies of the AJC, New York Times, USA Today and Athens Banner-Herald in 14 bins around campus.

With AJC delivery trucks no longer making the trek to Athens for circulation distribution, we worry the bins may forgo half the inventory and students may lose access to one of the best newspapers in the nation.

That’s right – because the AJC is a regional printing site for The New York Times, cut distribution for the Atlanta paper could pose problems for those who want “all the news that’s fit to print.”

Although the plans aren’t set yet, we’re anticipating changes to the readership program for the fall. We have an interview with a USA Today manager of the readership program today, and we hope to find some answers.

Do you care if we lose access to news on campus? Let us know on www.redandblack.com, and we’ll pass the word along.

- Carolyn Crist for the editorial board