About

The West Georgian, first published on November 1, 1933 under the direction of Editor Doris West, is the University of West Georgia's (UWG) student newspaper. The publication contains articles on sports, culture, students, campus life, national and international news, and significant issues of the day, along with advertisements from local businesses. In 1937, The West Georgian was named the Best Junior College Newspaper in the state at the Georgia Collegiate Press Association meeting in Savannah.

Throughout its history, the West Georgian has documented the development of the city of Carrollton and the broader West Georgia region (including Carroll, Heard, and Haralson counties). In the 1940s, the newspaper highlighted the impact of World War II upon the campus and community with stories of students driving to work at the Bell Bomber Plant in Marietta, serving in the military, and creating victory gardens. It also covered the historic relationship West Georgia College had with the Tuskegee Institute and the funding the college obtained from the Rosenwald Foundation to enrich the course offerings of the college and to expand educational outreach into the community for the improvement of agriculture, sanitation, and public health. It detailed the emergence of the Civil Rights Movement, including the integration of West Georgia College with the enrollment of local teacher Lillian Williams in the summer of 1963. The paper also covered Robert F. Kennedy's 1964 visit to campus for a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the John F. Kennedy Interfaith Chapel.

The West Georgian has enjoyed a close relationship with the Times-Georgian, Carrollton's daily newspaper. Over the years, the Times-Georgian has sponsored a number of special projects for the University's Department of Mass Communications, including a gracious contribution to support the department's annual Media Day event each spring. The Times-Georgian also printed the weekly hard copy edition of the student newspaper at a significantly reduced cost. Over the years, a number of UWG journalism students have worked for the Times-Georgian as freelance contributors and full-time reporters.

The paper became a weekly in the early 1960s and in 1979 changed from a tabloid to a conventional eight-column format. In the fall of 2019, The West Georgian transitioned from a weekly, hard copy newspaper published twelve times during the spring semester and twelve times during the fall to a weekly online format. The online edition is supplemented with two digest-style hard copy editions each semester to best serve the media habits of the students of the University of West Georgia.