Atlanta Georgian, May 22, 1917

The front page of this first edition of the May 22, 1917 issue of the Atlanta Georgian reports on the destruction caused by the Great Atlanta Fire of 1917 and the city’s effort to control the damage. The Georgian, which circulated daily from 1906 to 1939, was the first Hearst-owned newspaper in the South and is the most prominent example of sensationalist yellow journalism in Georgia. Manufacturer Fred Loring Seely established the paper and followed the penny press newspaper model by flooding the city with multiple low-priced daily editions featuring large headlines and eye-catching illustrations to attract readers. In its first year of publication, the paper infamously printed stories intended to inflame racial tensions that contributed to the start of the Atlanta Race Massacre of 1906. Famed newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst purchased the Atlanta Georgian in 1912 and under his ownership, the paper printed increasingly scandalous headlines and illustrations that dramatized local crimes, including its coverage of the Leo Frank case in Atlanta. The digitization of this title was funded through a grant from an anonymous donor as part of their mission to provide resources that promote a greater understanding of Georgia’s history during this important period.