We are an Atlanta institution in an Atlanta moment

He didn’t sweat much.

Think. Trust your gut. Make a choice. Do your best. That was always his advice. Commitment and follow-through is what determines whether a choice is right or wrong, prudent or foolish, he would say.

You get to make your decisions the “right decision.” He emphasized the “you.”

I’ve been hearing my late father’s voice recently. We made a big decision here at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. By now you’ve heard that we are sunsetting the print edition of the AJC. We will publish our final print edition on Dec. 31.

And, once again, Dad is right.

What matters, now that the decision has been made, is standing by it and following through.

What we will do after the last copy of the AJC is printed is simple.

We will serve this community relentlessly.

We will do it by producing world-class journalism.

We will hold leaders accountable for their words and deeds, consistent with our history and heritage.

We will convene this community around your interests.

We will identify problems and be part of the solution.

We will include everyone, meeting you where you are.

We will reflect the diversity of our local community, Georgia and the nation.

We will be a fully digital local news organization, single-minded in our commitment to work on your behalf as we’ve done for more than 150 years.

Since announcing we would sunset print, I’ve heard from you. There has been plenty of encouragement. You’ve shared your affection for the printed newspaper, and you’ve shared your thoughts about how to establish new habits around our digital products.

Digital is our present and, importantly, our future.

To win our future, we must live in it. Fully. This is the right decision for the AJC and the community we serve.

I’ve been hearing from peers in this business from across the country who are cheering us on and taking notes.

As Atlantans, we know of countless examples where leaders, institutions and the city itself stood at a crossroads and chose to step boldly into the what’s next.

We built an international airport when there was little “international” about our city.

We declared ourselves too busy to hate at a time when much of the South was stuck.

We opened ourselves to the world for business.

We are a city of constant reinvention.

The decision to end print is about delivering upon what’s next.

And it is inevitable.

The question of ending print has always been a matter of when. The preference for the centuries-old method of delivering journalism dwindles by the generation and struggles against the innovation of smartphones and our on-demand habits.

I often tell the story of the moment it hit me that our future was never going to be a printed newspaper.

It was a few days before Christmas in 2012. We were in the midst of covering what remains one of the more heartbreaking stories during my tenure here at the AJC.

A 14-year-old Grayson High School freshman, Paul Sampleton Jr., had been tied up and shot to death in his home. Two 15-year-olds and an 18-year-old were accused of plotting the robbery, and two adults and one of the teens would be convicted of murder. Paul, who was known to trade in high-end sneakers online, was killed over his shoe collection.

It was front-page news. It was the kind of story that unnerves any parent.

I had two boys that age. My son was a year younger than Paul at the time. Like Paul, he loved sneakers. And peer-to-peer transactions over social media and other apps had recently emerged as a marketplace. My son had made a few trades online.

Our “bonus son,” a relative we took in and raised, was also 14. He was not a sneakerhead. But he, too, needed to read this.

That morning we loaded up our van, headed to South Carolina to visit the grandmas for Christmas.

I handed the boys the newspaper and asked them both to read the story on the front page.

I waited a few minutes to ask their thoughts.

And I got this response from one of the boys: “What’s A8 and what do I do to get there?”

It was like handing him a rotary phone or a transistor radio.

From the wisdom of my dad to some unintentional enlightenment from my son, I am certain The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is prepared for the future. We look forward to your joining us for what’s ahead.