Macon Telegraph

The Telegraph

The 2007-04-03 front page of The Telegraph
Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Broadsheet
Owner(s)	The McClatchy Company
Publisher	Open
Editor	Sherrie Marshall
Founded	1826
Headquarters	487 Cherry Street Macon, Georgia 31201-3444  United States
Circulation	39,425 Daily 59,059 Sunday
Website	macon.com

The Telegraph, frequently referred to as the Macon Telegraph, is a newspaper based in Macon, Georgia, United States, and is the primary print news organ in central Georgia. It is the third-largest newspaper in the state (after the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Augusta Chronicle).

The Macon Telegraph began printing as a weekly newspaper in 1826, three years after the incorporation of the city of Macon. In 1831, it became the city's first daily newspaper. It continued to print during the American Civil War, during which time it was known as the Daily Macon Telegraph and Confederate.

While many other papers were being published in early Macon, at least five were absorbed into The Telegraph and most others folded. However, in 1884, a teenaged Telegraph employee spent $8 and founded The Macon Evening News, which would eventually compete with the older, morning paper for readers.

In 1914, the Anderson brothers, William T. and Peyton T., purchased the paper. Under their leadership, the paper inaugurated a special page focusing on the black community. They also purchased The Macon News and combined some staff positions between the two papers. The News continued to publish in the afternoon, while the Telegraph remained the morning paper.

In 1946, Peyton T. Anderson's son, Peyton, took over the papers. He became known for giving his editors great freedom to report the facts, as well as being a "pillar of the community". He sold the Telegraph and News in 1969 to Knight Newspapers, and subsequently invested the proceeds. Much of that money was left in his will to start one of Macon's major charitable foundations.