Athens Banner-Herald
Newspaper published in Athens, Georgia
The Athens Banner-Herald is a daily newspaper in Athens, Georgia, United States, owned by USA Today Co. The paper has a Sunday special and publishes online under the name Online Athens.
History
The newspaper traces its history to the Southern Banner newspaper which began publishing on March 20, 1832. The paper's masthead and owners were unchanged until 1872, when it was sold and the masthead changed to North-East Georgian and to Athens Weekly Georgian after sale, before returning to its original masthead in 1878. The title changed again with its merger with its rival the Southern Watchman to form the Athens Banner-Watchman in 1882. By 1886, it was owned and operated solely by T.L. Gantt. In 1889, the masthead became the Athens Weekly Banner for the weekly edition. This later became The Weekly Banner until the cessation of weekly editions in 1921.
In 1902, the daily newspaper, then called the Athens Daily Banner, became the Athens Banner under the ownership of H.J. Rowe. It continued under this title until 1923 when it merged with the Athens Daily Herald to become the Banner-Herald.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Athens Banner-Herald” is newspaper published in Athens, Georgia. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Athens, Banner-Herald and Newspaper, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “newspaper published in Athens, Georgia” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4813468. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1832, 1872, 1878 and 1882.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Athens Banner-Herald”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Athens Banner-Herald primary sources, Athens Banner-Herald archive and Athens research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Athens Banner-Herald”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Athens Banner-Herald” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.