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Morris Multimedia sells newspapers in north Georgia to new company
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Submitted report
Published: Apr 17, 2018, 3:01 PM

Charles H. Morris Sr., CEO and president of Morris Multimedia Inc. (MMI) announced Sunday the sale of The Times and The Poultry Times to his son, Charles Hill Morris Jr. and his new company, Metro Market Media (MMM). The change of ownership of these north Georgia newspapers is effective immediately.
In a separate transaction, Morris Sr. also sold from an affiliated company The Forsyth County News and The Dawson Community News to Morris Jr. and MMM.
Morris, Jr. has been regional manager of the three newspaper properties for the past 12 years. Metro Market Media is headquartered in Gainesville.
Morris, Jr. said, “With the purchase of the media companies in these three exceptional markets, we plan to position ourselves for long-term success in the communities we serve. Having them under a single ownership will allow us to be more efficient and customer oriented in everything we do, while continuing to provide quality journalism.”
“This is a family transaction that will allow us to have a collaborative relationship with MMI, while at the same time establishing ourselves as an independent company with these three properties, all of which have great potential,” Morris Jr. added.
The Times and its affiliated products were acquired from Gannett by MMI in 2004 by Morris Multimedia. The Forsyth and Dawson companies were owned by the New York Times Company prior to being purchased by an affiliated company in 1994.
In addition to his ownership of the new company, Morris, Jr. will continue to serve in a leadership capacity with the Tennessee, California and Caribbean operations.
Charles H. Morris Sr. said, “I’m very proud of my son for what he has accomplished in our company. He is a respected newspaper publisher who has served as president of Southern Newspaper Publishers Association, which represents daily newspapers in 15 southern states.”
MMI, founded in 1970 and headquartered in Savannah, is one of the largest privately owned companies in the United States. MMI owns and operates 16 television stations in six southeastern U.S. markets and numerous daily and weekly newspapers, shoppers and niche publications in eight states and the Caribbean.
Effingham Step-Grandmother Gets Life for Crocker Children Murders
Crocker Case
Elwyn Crocker Jr. and Mary Crocker were discovered buried behind their family’s home in Effingham County in 2018.
Updated: Sep 16, 2025, 6:41 PM
Published: Sep 16, 2025, 6:42 PM

GUYTON, Ga. — The step-grandmother of two Effingham County children whose bodies were found buried in the family’s backyard has pleaded guilty and was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Kim Wright admitted to multiple charges, including two counts of malice murder, aggravated sexual battery, cruelty to children, concealing a death and false imprisonment.

The case drew national attention in December 2018, when investigators acting on a tip discovered the bodies of 14-year-old Mary Crocker and her brother, Elwyn Crocker Jr., who had disappeared two years earlier at age 14. Authorities later revealed the children suffered severe abuse, including beatings, confinement and neglect.

Wright is the fourth of five defendants in the case to plead guilty. Her son, Mark Anthony Wright; her daughter, Candice Crocker; and Candice’s boyfriend, Roy Prater, are all serving life without parole. The children’s father, Elwyn Crocker Sr., is the only suspect who has not entered a plea.