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Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 1d

GPB is headquartered in Atlanta and directly competes with WABE on WRAS.

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Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 1d

GPB is the latter. And the AJC had a presence there for nearly a decade.

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Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 1d

Having had Poynter's McBride abdicate any role in policing unethical relationships between Atlanta's billionaire-owned newspaper, NPR, and the city's competing NPR affiliates (one of which is state-run) I'm skeptical.

#gapol
#atl

bsky.app/profile/sobs...

Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · Apr 19

I had a lengthy back and forth with NPR's public editor about the various conflicts of interest, including, her own, as the AJC was befriending Marjorie Taylor Greene while secretly planning to end its show on Atlanta public radio.

www.documentcloud.org/documents/25...

Email exchange with NPR Public Editor Kelly McBride

www.documentcloud.org

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Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 1d

That GPB is making talking points to rally support for state funding while the two Rep. candidates for statewide office in 2025 are ditching public media debates and conflating it and WABE suggests cuts to GPB’s state funding will turn up at some pt. in the next leg. session or the 2026 campaigns.

gpo Is FOR GEORGIA: KEY FACTS
GPB has put the "Georgia" in "public broadcasting" since its creation in 1960.
Today, GPB operates 33 facilities, including 27 broadcast towers and employs nearly 300 full- and part-time staff across Georgia. GPB also works with dozens of independent producers, contractors and other local talent to further its mission "to unite and uplift Georgia."
GPB is All of Georgia:
GPB is the only public media that reaches beyond Atlanta to the entire state through on-the-air, online and in-person programming. GPB has consistently invested in our rural communities, with four new FM radio stations planned by 2026 and education outreach specialists in rural school systems.
GPB Saves Georgia Money:
GPB has demonstrated how online courses and textbooks can save Georgia's schools tens of millions of dollars.
GPB's free online Chemistry, Physics, Environmental Science and Economics courses can be used to replace the average $50 textbook, potentially saving Georgia high schools $50 textbook per student, amounting to $33.5 million in savings.
• GPB maintains and updates the official 8th grade social studies textbook, Georgia Studies, online at a significantly lower cost, making sure content remains current and engaging and providing a savings of $6.7 million each year to Georgia's educational budget.
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GPB Builds Stronger Students:
GPB's Pre-K through 12 educational content is aligned with the latest Georgia standards and offers educators, students and families a variety of resources and formats to help children thrive.
• Interactions with GB's online educational resources have surged 451.29% since 2015.
• In 2024, PB's educational materials and instructional aides were accessed more than 14 million times.
•The average cost for professional learning for up to 25 educators is $2,000. GPB education outreach specialists provide an average of 250 free sessions each year, saving more than $500,000 to be applied to other important areas,
•The education resource…

GPB is Georgia Public Safety:
GPB is a key partner to the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) communications framework.
Numerous Georgia police departments, the FBI, GBI, National Weather Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and other agencies rely on GPB's communications towers to push critical messages out to the public.
• GPB maintains 4,000+ miles of fiber optic cable and 26 emergency-ready communication tower stations that have broadcast more than 4,880 Emergency Alert System
(EAS) messages from federal, state and local authorities, including most recently with Hurricane Helene.
• With the completion of GB's newest broadcast tower in Kingsland, GA., in late 2024, 100% of Georgians now receive GB's signal, including those along the I-95
Corridor where extreme weather alerts are critical to preserving life and property.
In the 2 weeks following Hurricane Helene, a wide area of rural, eastern Georgia was without power and cell phone service-as much as 21% of residents were without power and 24% of cell phone towers were out of service across the state.
During this time, GPB's TV and radio broadcasts were some of the few sources of reliable and timely information available to Georgians in an area from Valdosta to Waycross and north through Vidalia and Savannah, up to Augusta.
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GPB is Georgia-Focused, Balanced News:
Our journalists share local stories from coastal Georgia to the Appalachian Mountains through our ever-growing list of local media partnerships. GPB news content emphasizes balance and transparency for informed citizens interested in their government.
• GPB operates a broadcasting studio from the Georgia General Assembly, streams most legislative sessions and provides technical support to the Georgia legislature's media services.
• GPB hosts civic education content like Lawmakers, GPB's and Georgia's longest running show, offering state legislators a platform to discuss state affairs and policies.
GPB Programs Elevate
Statewide P…

Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 2d

I wrote about the Atlanta Press Club Debates and what they say about public media and the state of political journalism in #gapol in 2025.
#atl

brianpbannon.medium.com/what-the-atl...

What the Atlanta Press Club Debates Reveal About the State of Political Journalism in Georgia in…

Republicans, and Mayor Dickens, Snubbed the Atlanta Press Club Debates on Public Broadcasting, but they all still protect the…

brianpbannon.medium.com

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Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 3d

@sarahlovaly.bsky.social

Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 4d

Why not rename it the "Red, White, and Blue Prize"?

GaPolBot @gapolbot.bsky.social · 4d

# gapol New legislation or amendment from Carter, Earl L. "Buddy": Recognizing President Donald J. Trump's Role as a Transformational Peacemaker Whose Achievements in International Diplomacy Merit the Nobel Peace Priz https://www.congress

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Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 5d

Buddy Carter would rename it the Red, White and Blue Prize.

Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 6d

Mayor Dickens declined to attend the debate and was represented by an empty podium.

#atl
#gapol

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Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 6d

This month's @radatlantazine is a tribute to @recordplugmagazine which ended monthly issues in Sept. My contribution is a set of mouth-open concert photos that are a staple of music zines.
Look for it at dive bars around town.

#atl

Rectum Plug Zine in front of copies of Record Plug zine.

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Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 6d

"Paramount Skydance chief David Ellison is in talks with major private equity firms to join his possible bid to buy Warner Bros. Discover...Potential investors incl. Apollo Global Management...Apollo already owns more than a dozen TV stations through its Cox Media Group…"
nypost.com/2025/10/08/m...

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Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 7d

But if "Two Way Street" is any indication it will be Nigut talking to Atlanta Way insiders and Cox and Friends (WSB and AJC) favorites w/ "clarity without partisanship” as an excuse to not question why insider favorites like Nigut keep getting elite gigs at the expense of artists and musicians.

Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 7d

w/out acknowledging the collective effort of a culturally vibrant college radio station he was displacing.

I suspect the title "In These Times" is an allusion to the acclaimed BBC radio series "In Our Time" w/ Nigut meant to be on par w/ erudite polymath Melvyn Bragg.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/a...

BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time - New to In Our Time? Here are ten great places to start

With 1000 episodes available, executive editor John Goudie offers ten recommendations.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 7d

blending “expert analysis with voices from the arts, music, theater, film and literature” overlapping much of "City Lights Collective’s" coverage area.

It’s also reminiscent of Nigut's GPB radio show Two-Way Street, announced w/ a tone dead blog post in 2014 that celebrated Nigut’s return to radio

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Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 7d

Having canceled "City Lights Collective," its daily arts show, and laid off most of its arts staff WABE is going ahead with another Bill Nigut show. First announced at its Oct. board meeting, before the cancellation of City Lights Collective, In
"In These Times" was described as...
#atl

In These Times with Bill Nigut
A weekly podcast offering thoughtful, in-depth conversations on the political, cultural, and social forces shaping Georgia and beyond. The show blends expert analysis with voices from the arts, music, theater, film, and literature--providing clarity without partisanship. Grounded in curiosity, it helps listeners understand today's biggest stories and the world we're moving toward.

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Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 11d

The FCC does have a Character Standard it can use to challenge broadcast licenses, but the Trump administration has made no such claim against Black even as it has suggested challenging licenses for political enemies like George Soros on various grounds.

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Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 11d

Leon Black is deeply tied to the Jeffrey Epstein files. Black remains Apollo's largest shareholder and retains a significant attributable ownership stake.
He contributed a letter to the Epstein Birthday Book that also featured a letter from Donald Trump.
www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

On The Occasion of Jeffrey Epstein's 50th Birthday

A V.F.P.C. is something to be
A V.F.P.C. is something to see
A Liver, a Lover, a Jeff, a Jeffrey
Let's all give a cheer, for today he's Fifty!

Five decades, L, or half century
By Birds and by Bucks, C's and M's are his Key
Blonde, Red or Brunette, spread out geographically
With this net of fish, Jeff's now 'The Old Man and The Sea'

Teaching math, trading options or foreign currency
Green eyeshades, schemes and plans, a unique tax strategy
We dream and cauchemar (?), an architect's wild spree
Moscow, Paris, Sante Fe, Alhambra East jamboree

Maxwellian delight, a mother's treasure, great joy most surely
Harvardian patron, brain researcher, for extending wannabe
Outrageous, iconoclastic, unconventional, spirit free
Best of all, a Dear Friend, Happy Birthday Jeffrey!

Love and Kisses,

Leon

*Vanity Fair Poster Child.

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Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 11d

When the CEO of the parent company of a major media outlet is actively involved in pushing an administration's political agenda it creates a conflict. CMG's stations are now linked to a firm whose top executive is literally drafting U.S. government policy.

Meanwhile, Apollo co-founder...

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Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 11d

Rowan is chief exec. of Apollo Global Mgmt. which, among lots of things, is the majority owner of Atlanta-based Cox Media Group. Apollo purchased the majority stake in Cox during the first Trump admin. and has floated a possible sale during the second.
#gapol
#atl

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/u...

The Billionaire Behind Trump’s Deal for Universities

www.nytimes.com

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Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 12d

Lots of stuff becomes deciduous at the Clermont.

Clermont Hotel marquee saying Autumn in Atlanta.

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Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 14d

New ScFox News Wine Shop

Judge Jeanine Merlot
Two-Buck Gutfeld
Rupert’s Red Blend
Laura Ingraham’s Very White Zinfandel
Perino Noir

Screenshot Fox News Announcing our New Wine Shop!

Taste America's Best

Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 15d

"If the role of artists now is to be more subversive, that mission will be fundamentally at odds with much of Atlanta’s existing creative infrastructure. And of 'The Atlanta Way' itself."
#atl
#gapol

brianpbannon.medium.com/the-cancella...

The Cancellation of The City Lights Collective and the Call for Subversive Art

The final episode of The City Lights Collective, WABE’s daily arts program, aired last Thursday and included an interview with the band…

brianpbannon.medium.com

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Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 16d

Romman's launch video includes a picture of Gov. Brian Kemp along with Margie Taylor Greene, and Donald Trump in her corrupt politicians still. Very different from the "bipartisan" messages of Duncan and Thurmond.
It also frames the campaign as "building a movement" not a return to normalcy.
#gapol

Still from Ruwa Romman for Gov
Launch video "corrupt politicians."

Still from Ruwa Romman for Gov
Launch video "We will build a movement."

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Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 19d

That's the same weekend as the Little Five Points Halloween Festival though the parade is on Sunday the 19th.

I wonder how much costume crossover there'll be.
#atl

Indivisible ATL @indivisibleatl.bsky.social · 19d

No Kings 2 is coming to Atlanta on October 18!

(art via member Laura Borealis | @laura-gordon.bsky.social)

A hand-painted poster that reads, “No Kings Day of Defiance Atlanta Eighteenth of October 2025.” A hammer smashes a bejeweled crown into many pieces.

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Brian Bannon @sobsax.bsky.social · 20d

To me that was an early wake-up call to Atlanta creatives (and journalists) to start fighting the forces of oligarchy, the monetizing of public goods, the constant push to commoditize ourselves instead of building community.

To aspire to get rich rather than create beauty.