Johnathan McGinty

Johnathan McGinty, a former sports writer for The Athens Banner Herald and avid blogger, told UGA journalism students Monday that he will be launching his new project, the Northeast Georgia Sportsline, at the end of the week.

McGinty, 31, started his first blog in 2003 and “did not have the faintest idea as to what a blog was." Since then, McGinty has gained more experience with blogging and social media, including his current blog, Beyond the Trestle, which covers politics in Northeast Georgia and follows McGinty’s blog model of “commentary, coverage and context."

Northeast Georgia Sports Line will cover sports for nine private and public high schools in the Athens and Oconee County area as well as the local sports scene.

To supplement his blog, McGinty plans to put out four print publications per year, three of which being high school sports previews and the fourth being a local area golf guide.

McGinty also will be enlisting the help of a student from each high school as sports bloggers who will write about his or her school on a regular basis.