AJC Drops Pretense of Objectivity With Swamp Advocacy
Yes, I did take advantage of the situation to create that headline. How could I not?
An eagle eyed tipster to Peach Pundit the Blog™ let us know that the President and Publisher of the AJC, Andrew Morse, sent out an email, not to inform him of the latest news stories, but to advocate for the passage of a specific bill. In this case the bill is SB 132, which has been gutted and replaced with language to prevent mining permits from being issued in the Okefenokee Swamp.
We here at Peach Pundit celebrate and support everyone’s First Amendment Rights to call on our politicians to take action. We do it all the time here and we would be complete hypocrites if we took the AJC to task for exercising the same rights we do every day. But here is the rub, absolutely no one looks at Peach Pundit as the paragon of objectivity. We don’t even pretend to hide our biases here and our readers expect and understand that.
So the AJC editorial folks believe that mining shouldn’t happen in the Okefenokee Swamp. That’s great. God Bless America for the ability to use whatever platform you have to make a positive impact. What has stuck in my craw, however, is that in reading Mr. Morse’s email, you can sense that he feels like they have crossed a line from reporting to advocacy because he had to explain why he was sending the email.
The AJC does not often publish editorials on the front page. In recent months, we have waded into public debates when we believed the issues were too important for us to remain on the sideline. Our editorials on common sense approaches to the epidemic of gun violence, the raging debate over the public safety training center and now the Okefenokee, have nothing to do with politics. We’d just like to see the Republicans and Democrats who were voted into office by the people of Georgia take off their party hats and find common ground to solve problems, enrich the lives of Georgians and protect our state’s most precious natural resources.
Andrew Morse in email to subscribers 3/26/2024
Brother Morse, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but the AJC has been weighing into public debates in a one sided, advocacy style manner for sometime now.
Take for example, this article about the concept of Jim Crow 2.0. While it started on the premise of trying to see if the then recently passed SB 202 compared with Jim Crow of the past, it petered out into a look into Georgia’s racist past that wasn’t experienced by the vast majority of AJC readers today. To be clear, I am talking about segregation, literacy tests, and poll taxes, all of which were legitimate hallmarks of the Jim Crow era and had nothing in common with SB 202. Instead of doing an honest comparison of SB 202 to Jim Crow, the authors decided to talk about examples from 1877 (I would not be born for another 99 years). Reporters for the AJC and other media outlets were also keen to call the legalization of drop boxes for the first time a restriction of them, ignoring that until SB 202 the use of any ballot drop box in Georgia was illegal.
All of this type of reporting was, of course, biased. But biased in a way meant to present something other than open advocacy.
Of course the reality of SB 202 was altogether different. After the 2022 mid-terms, the first election that SB 202 was the law, we saw some extraordinary things happen. For example, 96% of African Americans waited in line less than 30 minutes to vote on election day. Here’s the list of those things found in post election polling:
▪ 98.9% of voters reported no issues casting a ballot.
▪ 95.3% reported a wait time of less than 30 minutes.
▪ 97% of voters rated their interactions with poll workers as “good” or “excellent”.
▪ 99% of voters felt safe in their polling location.
▪ 89.7% of voters feel confident in the elections process.
▪ 77.4% of voters felt that SB202 didn’t impact their ability to cast a ballot, with 14.8% saying SB202
made it easier to cast a ballot.
▪ 90.7% of voters feel that it’s easy to vote in Georgia.
Yeah. Jim Crow 2.0.
Of course the advocacy hasn’t stopped there either, but with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde styled confusion. I had whiplash from the competing narratives the AJC presented on gun violence in another example last fall.
Back to Mr. Morse’s email. Later in it he expresses a desire to modernize the, “155-year old newspaper into a modern media company.” I may be engaging in wild speculation when I read into that statement that the AJC is now publicly moving away from straight journalism, but somehow I don’t think I am. Afterall the email was complete with a call to action to contact State Senators and Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones to express support for SB 132. It even included a Dr. Suess quote for good measure.
If that is in fact the direction the AJC wants to go in, I am actually fine with it. Again, I love and support everyone’s First Amendment rights even if I disagree with what they say. I just hope that they are more public about the move away from journalism and toward being a modern media company than an email to a very limited audience.
For reference, here is the complete email from Andrew Morse to AJC subscribers.
Two weeks ago, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a front-page editorial calling for Gov. Brian Kemp and House Speaker Jon Burns to take extraordinary action to protect Georgia’s treasured Okefenokee Swamp and Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge from the ambitions of an Alabama mining company poised to begin extracting titanium dioxide, a mineral most commonly used in toothpaste whitener and powdered doughnuts.
The Okefenokee is the largest wildlife refuge east of the Mississippi River. It is a rare ecological wonder on the fast track to potentially securing status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, alongside places such as the Great Barrier Reef, Machu Picchu, Angkor Wat and the Grand Canyon.
For five years, Twin Pines Minerals has tried to develop nearly 600 acres on Trail Ridge, the ancient sand dunes that form the eastern boundary of the swamp. In February, despite opposition from the federal government, Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division released draft permits for the mine, bringing the project closer to reality.
Environmentalists and lawmakers at the Gold Dome have been feverishly working to pass legislation that would stymie Twin Pines’ plans. On Tuesday, the House passed a bill that may do just that.
The measure, SB 132, would prevent the state’s Environmental Protection Division from granting new dragline surface mining permits for three years. While imperfect in the eyes of some environmentalists, the moratorium would buy time for a more long-term solution. But success is far from guaranteed. Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones must bring the bill to the Senate for consideration and a vote. Should it pass, then Gov. Kemp needs to sign it into law. Thursday is the final day of the legislative session. The clock is ticking.
If you want to know the facts of the debate over the Okefenokee, I’d encourage you to read this comprehensive story by the AJC’s Drew Kann, who has covered the issue extensively, and recently spent several days reporting from Folkston and the surrounding areas.
Since we published our editorial, I have heard from environmentalists, state lawmakers, national lawmakers, Atlanta-based CEOs and leaders of major philanthropic groups, and from Republicans and Democrats alike.
Not one call has supported the mining at Trail Ridge and risking the future of the Okefenokee. Not one. People have provided me lengthy dissertations on property rights, conservation easements and the nuance involved with different types of surface mining. I have learned more about the timber industry than I ever imagined I would. I’ve learned, in excruciating detail, about the legislative horse-trading that has gone on behind the scenes, and I’ve heard varying perspectives on how large a donation lobbyists must make to lawmakers before the donation is deemed significant.
And yet, not one person has said they believe the EPD should approve permits for Twin Pines (or anyone else) to begin mining Trail Ridge.
This is meaningful, because, as I have shared in these monthly notes, our subscribers and our community are fiercely divided about, well, just about everything. Everything but this.
The AJC does not often publish editorials on the front page. In recent months, we have waded into public debates when we believed the issues were too important for us to remain on the sideline. Our editorials on common sense approaches to the epidemic of gun violence, the raging debate over the public safety training center and now the Okefenokee, have nothing to do with politics. We’d just like to see the Republicans and Democrats who were voted into office by the people of Georgia take off their party hats and find common ground to solve problems, enrich the lives of Georgians and protect our state’s most precious natural resources.
At a time when dysfunction is the norm, Georgia has an opportunity to set a national example for functional government. Speaker Burns has thrown his support behind the latest compromise bill, but some lawmakers and conservationists fear it will never see the light of day in the Senate. That is an unacceptable outcome for the people of Georgia. Jones needs to bring the bill to a Senate vote and send it to the governor’s desk.
Gov. Kemp has been content to sit on the sidelines of the debate. It’s time for him to get in the game. Kemp should spend some of his significant political capital to urge the legislature to send the moratorium bill to his desk for signature and encourage the EPD to deny Twin Pines’ permits.
The governor has demonstrated a willingness to transcend partisan politics and put the interests of all Georgians first. He stood up to former President Trump, defending the results of Georgia’s election in 2020. And the conservative Republican has forged an important partnership with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, a Democrat, that has produced real results for our city.
Gov. Kemp has the opportunity in his second term to cement his legacy as an environmental champion and leapfrog his political rivals by urging Senate action and making clear that he wants the legislature to pass a law that will protect the Okefenokee. The governor’s leadership would go a long way toward ensuring the 438,000-acre national treasure – one of the largest intact freshwater wetlands left in the world – remains protected for generations to come.
Most of my monthly notes to you focus on how we are transforming the AJC from a storied 155-year-old newspaper into a modern media company. We’ve outlined our plans to invest in our digital platform and develop new content and products to meet the evolving needs of our community. But the heart of the AJC is and always will be our commitment to fight for our community and work for a better future for the next generation. I wanted to highlight our support of the Okefenokee in this letter in the hope that we might come together to save the swamp.
It’s not too late: Write to your local lawmaker, write to Gov. Kemp, Lt. Gov. Jones and Sen. Jon Ossoff, a vocal supporter of preserving the Okefenokee. You can also write to the EPD and urge the agency to deny the permits. A period of public commentary closes April 9. Let them all know you care more about preserving one of America’s natural wonders than you do about preserving the business interests of an Alabama mining company.
In the words of the great American philosopher Dr. Seuss: “UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
Thank you, as always, for your support of the AJC and our mission.
Until next month.
Keep Going,
Andrew Morse
President and Publisher
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
3/26/2024
