Cox and Friends and Family
After nine years on state-run Georgia Public Broadcasting under the name Political Rewind a similar show with host Bill Nigut debuts on rival NPR affiliate WABE today.
With its heavy presence of journalists from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, I dubbed the GPB show “Cox and Friends” after the paper’s owner Cox Enterprises which has long dominated Atlanta local media.
The show on WABE will dispense with any fig leaf of independence and be fully produced and branded as an AJC production. It will use the name of the paper’s own ongoing podcast Politically Georgia.
My longstanding complaint about these AJC/public radio “partnerships” was that it surrendered the independence of public broadcasters to a corporate entity that needs its own journalistic watchdog.
Who in Atlanta covers Cox when they’re the story?
We’re facing such a situation now with the controversial statements and actions of Cox heir James Cox “Fergie” Chambers.
Since the March 7th attacks by Hamas and Israel’s intensifying response, Chambers has been making pro-Palestine, even pro-Hamas, statements and participating in and funding direct actions against an Israeli defense contractor.
A Massachusetts local news site covered such actions in New England
And Los Angeles Magazine claimed an “exclusive” story of his funding the group Palestine Action.
No Atlanta outlet has yet picked up on these stories despite their local connections.
Earlier this year Chambers divorced from the Cox Dynasty over its support for Atlanta’s “Cop City” and vowed to use his money for leftist causes including a referendum effort for the public safety training center and bail or legal funds for activists charged in a sweeping RICO indictment.
That indictment has been heavily criticized as somewhat flimsy but nonetheless includes domestic terrorism charges for some of the defendants.
Cox has dominated Atlanta local media for generations owning the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, WSB radio and Television. In addition, its foundations and funds are major backers of most of Georgia’s major journalistic institutions from the Atlanta Press Club to Journalism professorships plus colleges, museums, and non-profits.
Since the most recent Israeli-Hamas war began, both the AJC and Axios have covered controversies over social media posts, public statements and backlashes or criticism of them.
As have national outlets like the New York Times in stories about Apollo Global CEO Mark Rowan’s calls for resignations from the University of Pennsylvania and a suspension of donations over campus protests and statements.
The Israel-Hamas War Fallout Hits Wall Street and Universities — The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Since 2019, Apollo has been the majority owner of Cox Media Group which includes Atlanta stations WSB TV and radio. Cox Enterprises retains a minority stake.
Public opinion over the Middle East conflict is divided, complicated, and intense.
Initial shock and condemnation of Hamas by most politicians and many media outlets has been followed by increasingly vocal criticism, even within mainstream media, of Israel’s bombing and war plans as the Palestinian death toll rises.
Chambers’ more extreme statements may also be uncomfortable for Atlanta’s new independent outlets that have sprung up surrounding the protracted “Cop City” debate and protests.
Many have been critical of legacy local media’s coverage and particularly the AJC.
All this comes as Cox Enterprises marks the 125th anniversary of its founding with the purchase of the Dayton Evening News by James M. Cox in 1898.
The AJC’s new publisher Andrew Morse is leading an ambitious effort to gain half a million subscribers by 2026 as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Cox has reportedly okayed a 100 million dollar investment to build up the AJC as the South’s premiere news brand.
As someone who follows media issues in Atlanta and researches the Cox Dynasty as an interest, this is my beat. But it’s all also well beyond my resources.
As previously disclosed, when costs for my open records requests for documents between Cox and GPB ran into the hundreds of dollars, I had to resort to a crowdfund that Chambers contributed to.
For advocates of local news in Atlanta, both mainstream and independent, Cox and the Cox dissident are tempting sources of funding.
But again, who in Atlanta covers Cox when they’re the story?
