About

Owner Archie M. Speights and Editor Judge Pitt M. Brown published the first issue of the Griffin Daily News in February 1872. The original planned publishing date was in 1871 but circulation was delayed by the late arrival of printing materials. On July 11, 1872, the Griffin News and semi-weekly Middle Georgian merged after Col. S. W. Mangham sold out to J. J. Hunt and Speights; Brown retained his editorial duties, but now the News had two owners. The newspaper consisted of a four-page daily edition titled the Griffin News and an eight-page weekly titled News and Georgian. In early April 1873, Speights and Hunt sold complete ownership to Nathanial C. Monroe, and, while Speights remained as business manager and printer, Hunt left the paper entirely. Monroe retired from the News in April 1874, and sold his interest back to Speights. At the same time as Monroe’s departure, Editor Brown announced his retirement which left Speights with both editorial and publishing duties. In early-November 1875, J. D. Alexander and Eugene P. Speer bought the News, and they shared duties as co-editors and publishers. Although the paper began as politically neutral, Alexander gradually introduced support for the Democratic Party in the late stages of the Reconstruction Era. Alexander bought Speer’s shares in May 1878 and sold them to C. A. Niles. Ownership in the News again changed when Niles, now sole proprietor, sold out to Douglas Glessner on January 1, 1882. Under Glessner’s management, the paper experienced significant growth in both circulation and sheet size. In May 1889, the Griffin Daily News and the Griffin Sun merged to form the Griffin Daily News and Sun. Glessner managed the newspaper until his death on July 11, 1910. Joseph D. Boyd then took over as publisher of the paper, but his ownership came to an abrupt end when he died on September 4, 1911. Boyd’s wife assumed control of the paper, and she appointed Robert L. Duke as editor; Duke remained associated with the paper for the next ten years. On March 1, 1912, Lloyd Baxter became editor, and he purchased the paper’s first linotype machine. That linotype machine wasn't installed until J. A. “Gus” Morrow, formerly of the Jonesboro Enterprise, became editor on May 1, 1912. Morrow resigned in May 1914 to work on John M. Slaton’s campaign for U. S. Senate. Judge C. C. Givens purchased the Griffin Daily News and Sun from Mrs. Joseph Boyd in 1924. By September 23, 1924, “Sun” was no longer a part of the paper’s masthead. Givens, who owned two newspapers in Kentucky, decided to sell the News, and Quimby Melton purchased the publication on February 1, 1925; the Melton family owned the paper into the mid-20th century. Today, the Griffin Daily News is owned by Paxton Media Group and continues to publish as Spalding County’s legal organ.