Public Radio in Cox City
After years of calling out Cox Enterprises and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for being in cahoots with Georgia Public Broadcasting and complicit in the hijacking of college radio icon WRAS, it was a bit of a shock to learn, belatedly, that WABE’s CEO Jennifer Dorian, first hired in December of 2020, is the daughter of former Cox President and publisher of the AJC David Easterly.
It wasn’t a secret, and something I should have known already, but was still concerning.
From a Saporta Report article about her appointment:
“I understand the separation of church and state,” Dorian said. “I have never worked in a newsroom or worked for a news brand. But I’ve grown up in the newspaper business.”
Dorian’s grandfather, Claude Easterly, was [a] newspaperman, and her father, David Easterly, who began as a reporter and had a “meteoric” rise with Cox Enterprises, serving as publisher of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and later as a top executive of Cox.
After a WABE board meeting last year, before I knew of her Cox connection, I asked via email if Dorian believed Cox was involved in what happened to WRAS. Her reply was a discreet “No comment.”
I considered that a sort of confirmation but hoped for something more direct.
That WABE might be the newsroom both resourced and independent enough to hold Cox accountable when its conflicts of interest are glaring.
And they’re glaring brightly now over “Cop City.”
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Local Media Monopoly
Former Ohio Gov. and newspaper publisher James M. Cox first bought the afternoon Atlanta Journal and WSB in 1939 then the morning Atlanta Constitution in 1950.
That meant one company owned the largest newspaper, TV, and radio stations in the same city.
In 2019 Cox sold its broadcast stations to Apollo Global Management but maintains a minority stake in WSB TV and radio.
Cox Enterprises is now a diversified conglomerate with automotive interests and cable systems.
Its stake in electrical vehicle manufacturing now coincides with Gov. Kemp and the state legislature’s policy goal of making Georgia the EV capital.
Cox bought Axios for a whopping half a billion dollars in 2022.
In addition, Cox funds or endows the state’s major journalism schools and the Atlanta Press Club.
In response to some emailed questions about the state legislature’s cut to GPB and WABE’s Cox connections, a spokesperson replied:
WABE’s connections to Cox Enterprise do not extend beyond professional colleagues — and sometimes competitors — in the Atlanta media landscape. [FYI: WABE Pres/CEO Jennifer Dorian’s father retired from Cox Enterprises in 2002]
Still, Easterly had a long tenure with Cox which remains Atlanta’s dominant local media company. In the past, Creative Loafing acted as a watchdog on Cox’s excesses. WABE has not.
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Watchdog or Booster
In 1988 Easterly and other Cox Executives clashed with editor Bill Kovach who resigned.
Kovach was hired away from the New York Times just two years earlier with a mandate to make the AJC the next great national newspaper.
From a New York Times article about Kovach’s resignation:
In the course of that effort, Mr. Kovach riled some of the city’s most visible corporate citizens, including David Easterly, president of Cox Enterprises Inc., the parent organization of the newspapers.
…
Mr. Easterly moved to Atlanta in 1982 as president of the newspaper division of Cox Enterprises, the nation’s 12th largest newspaper publishing concern. In a memorandum to the staff soon after his arrival, Mr. Easterly declared, ‘’The Atlanta newspapers should be good for Atlanta.’’ He has often publicly admired USA Today, which is known for its brief articles and bright graphic style.
Mr. Kovach said yesterday that Mr. Easterly had often suggested to him and other staff members that The Journal and The Constitution emulate that newspaper’s more upbeat approach to the news.
WABE dropped daytime classical music and expanded its news coverage in the face of GPB’s competition but its current slogan of “Amplify Atlanta” suggests its own preference for the upbeat to adversarial journalism.
Despite his champions, Kovach’s sensibility also clashed with many readers who preferred Lewis Grizzard to take downs of the business community.
That may still be the case, but too much boosterism can make newsrooms look unserious. And cynicism towards corporations and billionaires is growing.
Even in Atlanta.
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Big Philanthropy
Cox is also a major philanthropist with its foundations backing leading non-profits like the High Museum and Atlanta Symphony.
Cox’s current CEO Alex Taylor and WABE’s Dorian both serve on the board of the Path Foundation.
That public-private model of funding public goods is at the heart of controversies surrounding “Cop City.”
The Cox Foundation has pledged a reported $10 million to the Atlanta Police Foundation for the project and Taylor was lead corporate fundraiser as Chair of the Atlanta Committee for Progress.
Critics wonder if elected officials are pushing it through despite vocal opposition because the large philanthropies are ordering them to.
Cox outlets, led by the AJC, have gotten so many “exclusives” with the mayor they seem orchestrated.
Even residents who aren’t anarchists or abolitionists have gripes with “the Atlanta Way” and roll their eyes at some of the AJC’s coverage.
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A Test of Credibility
The most serious test of who to believe stems from the Jan. killing of forest activist Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, also known as Tortuguita, by Georgia State Police. Law enforcement say the activist shot at officers first and wounded one.
The incident itself and the unfolding investigation led to competing narratives, charges of copaganda or leftist disinformation.
Local media, built on access relationships with elected officials and law enforcement, often look too close to their sources.
In response, critics have started new digital outlets like the Atlanta Community Press Collective or social media accounts to both rebut stories and offer their own.
Their coverage blurs the line between journalism and activism and is mixed with anger, sarcasm, and intense rhetoric.
But their Twitter threads and open records requests have shone more of a light on “The Atlanta Way” than most legacy local outlets, including the two NPR affiliates with Cox Connections.
To its credit, WABE’s coverage of “Cop City” can’t be described as Copaganda. It’s included scoops about the absence of body camera footage of Georgia State Patrol officers after Terán’s death, interviews with critics opposed to the facility as well as with the mayor and elected officials that weren’t softballs.
But there’s little mention of Cox’s role specifically. As funder or media gatekeeper.
To my knowledge, Alex Taylor has done no interviews.
Covering Cox as part of the story seems long overdue. If WABE can’t, NPR should step in.
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Beware the Alternatives
With the last name Bannon, I’m well aware alternatives to mainstream media can be worse not better. MAGA aligned outlets are active in Georgia and regularly attack the AJC and even WSB radio from the right.
Both Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis make criticism of the media part of their campaigns.
Calls to Defund Public Radio resurface with every negative story about conservatives, positive story about the LGBTQ community, or skeptical story about law enforcement.
But there are legitimate criticisms of the media including from the left. Cox’s unwillingness to own up to its ethical lapses and other outlets’ unwillingness to call them on it makes Atlanta look like an Oligarchy.
That’s also a threat to democracy.
