Since I have moved from Georgia some 25 years ago, I have had the chance to compare how radio and print media report on their local teams in another area of the country. It has always frustrated me on how the AJC and local media report on the two major teams in Georgia. For lack of any other descriptions , I will call it balance and tone. I have actually contacted the editor at AJC about this topic, and he relates it all to circulation numbers. He and his writers give " the masses " what they want: puff pieces about UGA. The tone is almost consistently positive and optimistic with a strong tendency to downplay or minimize any problem. Of course, on things they can't ignore like player arrests, they are reported , quickly addressed and forgotten. To me, as an admittedly biased Tech fan, the tone of reporting about UGA is to minimize problems and emphasize confidence and ( over ) optimism. The balance of " good " news to " bad " news is roughly 80/20.
Compare this to the tone and balance of Tech articles. Sure , there are positive articles about Tech, but they are almost always treated like exceptions with their tone. As far as the balance between " good " and " bad " , I feel it runs about 60/40.
So, in summary : the AJC writes about UGA as a "homer" publication. Much like how the Milwaukee Journal writes about the Badgers. Not surprising , and expected in a way. Somewhat balanced , but slanted toward " homer". Reporting on Tech , by comparison, appears to slant more negative , because there is little, if any, homering going on. I am sure that's the way UGA subscribers want it, because it feeds into their self-perceived superiority. That means they buy more papers and the cycle continues to feed itself. Frustrating to say the least.
