The Atlanta Journal-Constitution traces its roots to 1868, the founding date of The Atlanta Constitution. The Atlanta Journal debuted in 1883. The papers have been under common ownership since 1950 and fully merged in 2001. The newspaper is owned byCox Enterprises, a family-owned company that has been in Atlanta since 1939. While the newspaper is owned by a private company, its news decisions are made by the journalists in theAJCs newsroom.