Friday, June 8, 2007
News Brand Atlanta's hire isn't a conflict — just ask the AJC
Posted by John F. Sugg on Fri, Jun 8, 2007 at 3:33 PM
It’s not as though the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has been exactly harsh on Mayor Shirley Franklin. Better terms to describe the relationship would be “limp,†“flaccid†and “pandering.â€
It’s the business of the elites protecting and rewarding each other.
Latest example: “Brand Atlanta†is the misbegotten marketing program that came up with the awful ATL logo and promotional program. The outfit this week was rewarded for its bad work by City Council, which cheerily chipped in $4 million in taxpayer dollars, the overwhelming bulk of Brand Atlanta’s alleged “public-private†funding. Put another way, every man, woman and child in the city was robbed of $8 to fund Brand Atlanta. Did you get your money’s worth?
But it gets better.
Brand Atlanta is one of the creations of the Franklin regime. And the AJC editor in charge of metro coverage is Bert Roughton. (With what AJC staffers are calling the “post-journalism AJC†restructuring, Roughton has a new title of managing editor – but he most definitely can decide what and how City Hall is covered.)
Who does Brand Atlanta hire as an executive director with a lavishly overpriced $160,000 salary? Why, none other than Roughton’s wife, Melinda Ennis-Roughton. You can find the tidbit about hubby Bert's relationship in the AJC story on Ennis-Roughton, but it’s extremely well buried on the jump page.
Not that Franklin & Co. weren’t already safe from tough reporting by the AJC – but the mayor has a lot less to fear now. And you’re paying for it.
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