MACON, Ga. — Doug and Lauren Deal are the couple behind the Macon Community News, and after December, their paper will no longer be in print.
"It's a little emotional," said Doug Deal, the publisher of Macon Community News. "It means a lot to me and seeing it go was kind like you know letting go of an old friend."
Deal and his wife, Lauren, started publishing Macon Community News in 2013.
"Our first run was six months," Doug Deal said. "It was just too much at that point, but it was a good test run. We figured out things that we (could) improve and we decided to go digital."
It wasn't until 2017 that they decided to start printing again.
"It's over 100 people that have helped us in some way or another," Doug Deal said. "I can't thank them enough and I can't thank the community enough for their support."
Doug, Lauren and their two children, Sam and Isabel, worked on the paper together.
Deal was with his children working on a story about the Ocmulgee Indian Mounds when his car was broken into.
"I had taken pictures on the trails and of the mounds and when I came back to my car I noticed my window was down, and as I got closer I realized it was broken out," Doug Deal said. "I started thinking about the safety of our family, my staff, even myself, but we can't risk going out for a paper that isn't really helping our livelihood."
Lauren Deal owns Deal Law Firm in Macon, and was the editor-in-chief of Macon Community News.
"It was definitely Doug's brain child," Lauren said. "Macon Community News was a passion project as much as anything else, so we've never had nine to five, Monday through Friday operations for the newspaper."
The Deals said they will continue to write for Macon Community News online.
"We will definitely continue online, but it's not going to be as frequent," Doug Deal said. "Anytime we uncover something that we could help, we (will) continue to write stories."
"I like the fact that I can continue writing on Facebook and on our website without the pressure of a deadline," Lauren Deal said. "It gives us a freedom, I think, to play with it and to enjoy it without the stress of having to have a product."
If you want to support the Deals and Macon Community News, you can follow their Macon Community News Facebook page or visit their website.
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