John Schaffner Resigns From Reporter Newspapers

Last week, John Schaffner, founding editor of Sandy Springs and Buckhead Reporter newspapers, announced that he’s resigning from the publication’s company. 

Schaffner is known for his prolific coverage. In a commentary, last December, for the Sandy Springs Reporter he reflected on Sandy Springs’ journey to cityhood and when he first met Tibby DeJulio and Eva Galambos at a Sandy Springs Chamber of Commerce reception in the late 1980s. 

The veteran journalist, who turns 70 in June, resigns as the part-time editor at large. He also writes for the Brookhaven and Dunwoody Reporters, as well as the company's Web site.

His resignation from Reporter Newspapers is effective Tuesday.

After announcing his resignation at the Buckhead Business Association's Thursday breakfast meeting, Schaffner said he and the company's management had reached "an understanding about a new direction" for the papers.

A fixture at the Neighborhood Planning Unit and Buckhead Council of Neighborhoods meetings, Schaffner wrote a column for the Reporter papers along with news articles. He produced knowledgeable stories on government, police, business and community development, as well as showing a deft touch with feature pieces on neighborhoods and community residents. And, he snapped photos, wrote headlines and edited copy.

Schaffner began working as a consultant for Springs Publishing and Reporter Newspapers in 2006 and was full-time editor for the Sandy Springs and Buckhead Reporter when they launched in January 2007. The company added the Brookhaven Reporter a little over a year ago and the Dunwoody Reporter last fall. 

“I thoroughly enjoyed the four-plus years working on the Reporter Newspapers because, although I didn’t own any part of the company, it gave me an entrepreneurial pleasure helping to build the products from notes on a piece of paper to the success the community newspapers are today," Schaffner said in a statement to Patch.

“But the real pleasure is in all of the neighborhood activists, elected officials, community and civic leaders with whom I have associated and become friends. I hope to be able to retain those relationships as I now pursue a new career.”

Schaffner said he has no plans to retire and will likely remain in "some aspect of the media."

Steve Levene, the company's owner and the newspapers' publisher, said, "He’s a veteran journalist and, as our founding editor, made a significant contribution to the content and growth of all the Reporter papers, in particular the Buckhead Reporter.”

Before joining the Reporter Newspapers, Schaffner was editor and part owner of a group of weekly papers called the Story, which had editions in Buckhead, Midtown, west side and northwest Atlanta and Central DeKalb County. He came to Atlanta in 1977 to become first executive news editor and then managing editor of The Atlanta Constitution.  He and his wife, Karen, are Buckhead residents