Elliot Jaspin: AJC's racial cleansing firestorm
For generations of Georgians who have accused the
Atlanta Journal-Constitution of being too liberal,
Elliot Jaspin's charge that the AJC covered up his
story about racism in Forsyth County sounds almost
comical. Most of us who grew up in Georgia knew about
Forsyth County and its legendary signs that said,
"Nigger, don't let the sun set on you in Forsyth
County." The late Hosea Williams led a civil rights
march into Forsyth in 1987 and was attacked by the
Klan. Oprah came down. The world knew about it. But
Jaspin accuses the AJC of a "lackadaisical coverage of
race."
Jaspin is a Pulitzer-winning reporter in Cox's
Washington bureau who was given five years to work on
one series that he has fashioned into a new book about
racial cleansing of black people from predominantly
white communities such as Forsyth County. A chapter in
it details his charges against the AJC, which have
stirred an enormous controversy in journalism circles.
It's really sort of phenomenal. Jaspin was paid by Cox
to work on this one story, sponsored by Cox's Austin,
Texas, paper, and he turns the story into a book that
attacks the AJC. And he's still on the payroll!
Meanwhile, Cox is cutting to the bone at the AJC,
where the public editor declares that everybody is
going to have to work harder.
The story about Jaspin's charges was broken by Richard
Prince:
The reporter who uncovered a 60-year pattern of
expelling African Americans from communities around
the country and wrote a series about it last year says
the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the flagship of the
newspaper company he works for, tried to undermine
what he produced.
In a book scheduled to arrive in retail stores by
March 5, Elliot Jaspin quotes his boss, the Cox
Newspapers Washington bureau chief, Andy Alexander,
speaking of Julia Wallace, editor of the Atlanta
newspaper.
"Wallace's refusal to run the series rankled
Alexander," Jaspin wrote. "'I think we both know
what's going on here,' he told me in frustration at
one point. 'They are afraid of angering white
people.'"
The book, "Buried in the Bitter Waters: The Hidden
History of Racial Cleansing in America,"builds upon
the four-part "Leave or Die" series Jaspin wrote last
year. ...
Read entire article at Doug Monroe at his blog at Atlanta Magazine
Atlanta Journal-Constitution of being too liberal,
Elliot Jaspin's charge that the AJC covered up his
story about racism in Forsyth County sounds almost
comical. Most of us who grew up in Georgia knew about
Forsyth County and its legendary signs that said,
"Nigger, don't let the sun set on you in Forsyth
County." The late Hosea Williams led a civil rights
march into Forsyth in 1987 and was attacked by the
Klan. Oprah came down. The world knew about it. But
Jaspin accuses the AJC of a "lackadaisical coverage of
race."
Jaspin is a Pulitzer-winning reporter in Cox's
Washington bureau who was given five years to work on
one series that he has fashioned into a new book about
racial cleansing of black people from predominantly
white communities such as Forsyth County. A chapter in
it details his charges against the AJC, which have
stirred an enormous controversy in journalism circles.
It's really sort of phenomenal. Jaspin was paid by Cox
to work on this one story, sponsored by Cox's Austin,
Texas, paper, and he turns the story into a book that
attacks the AJC. And he's still on the payroll!
Meanwhile, Cox is cutting to the bone at the AJC,
where the public editor declares that everybody is
going to have to work harder.
The story about Jaspin's charges was broken by Richard
Prince:
The reporter who uncovered a 60-year pattern of
expelling African Americans from communities around
the country and wrote a series about it last year says
the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the flagship of the
newspaper company he works for, tried to undermine
what he produced.
In a book scheduled to arrive in retail stores by
March 5, Elliot Jaspin quotes his boss, the Cox
Newspapers Washington bureau chief, Andy Alexander,
speaking of Julia Wallace, editor of the Atlanta
newspaper.
"Wallace's refusal to run the series rankled
Alexander," Jaspin wrote. "'I think we both know
what's going on here,' he told me in frustration at
one point. 'They are afraid of angering white
people.'"
The book, "Buried in the Bitter Waters: The Hidden
History of Racial Cleansing in America,"builds upon
the four-part "Leave or Die" series Jaspin wrote last
year. ...