Atlanta Daily World News was founded in 1928 by William Alexander Scott II, a graduate of Morehouse College, to be a source of news and a voice for the city's African American community. Initially, it was published twice a week and later expanded to three times a week. In 1932, the paper became the first black daily newspaper in the United States. In 1933, upon the closing of the Atlanta Independent, it became the only black newspaper in Atlanta (located on Auburn Avenue).

Alexander Scott founded the frist chain of black newspapers, which included the Chattanooga Tribune and the Memphis World, with the chain evenually growing to include fifty publications.

On February 4, 1934, William Scott was shot and killed and his brother Cornelius Adolphus Scott took over the paper. C.A. Scott retired in 1997 and his great niece, Alexis Scott Reeves, took over as publisher.

While the paper did not appear to openly support the Civil Rights movement due to threats from business owners to take their business elsewhere and the conservative nature of C.A. Scott, the paper did urge readers to shop at black-owned businesses and covered national events of the time such as lynching, police brutality, the Scottsboro Boys trial, and school segreagation. The newspaper received and maintained advertising support from companies like Coca-Cola, Sears and Roebuck, and Rich's.

By 2000, the paper had reduced its publicaton to two papers per week and in 2012 joined forces with Real Times Inc, the publisher of five other African American papers.

The newspaper's downtown office, located at 145 Auburn Ave, was damaged in a 2008 tornado, resulting in a move to another location. In 2012 it was announced that the building would be sold and demolished, but instead, in 2014, the building was restored for retail and residential use.