File under: media reparations, community accountability, conversations of repair, antifascism, neoliberal fascism in Atlanta, media criticism
On Sept. 10, we aired an episode of the Mainline News Hour on WRFG (published as Episode 48 on the Mainline Podcast) following the Atlanta City Council’s decision to authorize a ground lease of 381 acres of land in the South River Forest to the Atlanta Police Foundation to build what’s known as “Cop City”: a massive, $90 million police militarization facility in unincorporated DeKalb County. The episode featured myself, Mainline contributor Sylvia Johnson, and guest Ryan Gravel discussing the vote. Months later, after periods of reflection with the help of community members who care enough to speak directly to me of this, I have concluded this wasn’t our best work—and there are elements from the episode that call for correction.
We do that with this episode, which will air on WRFG this Friday. As patrons, we honor you with this extended play and early release of the episode.
What led us to this episode: On Oct. 6, I received essentially what is a letter to the editor from a DeKalb County resident consisting of their feedback regarding the episode; this came on the heels of receiving feedback from fellow Mainline contributor and now-business manager Jess Izard the day the episode aired. Jess and I came together yesterday to record a corrective episode of Episode 48, giving much-needed airtime to what I hope are just the beginnings of conversations of repair and speaking truth to power to what’s taking form in our city.
In Episode 48, Gravel points to a potential legal strategy that was used to tear down a confederate monument in another case, which is grounded in the notion that protesters against the city-state pose a threat to constituents. This narrative is absolutely false, has no bearing, and shouldn’t have been legitimized on our broadcast—something I should have immediately corrected or cut out of the episode entirely. There is a long, long history wherein those who resist the state are discredited and delegitimized through the media; and my inability to correct this error as it was voiced on our broadcast, in whatever context, played into that harmful, ongoing narrative characteristic of mainstream and dominant media throughout history and today. I hold myself up to that standard in this corrective episode while continuing on my recommitted path of amends and reparations. I recognize this is just one of multiple conversations we will have to correct the course of harms caused from my misstep as a journalist and editor at this publication.
In this episode, which we are sharing with you uncut and days ahead of the air date on this Friday, we point our media critical lens to Mainline for the first time in a public discussion—a practice I hope we engage in regularly in the efforts of building trust in our communities. We ground ourselves in the conversation with the letter written to us by the DeKalb County listener, who consented we read their letter on the air for the purposes of our coverage.
I am also currently in the process of following through on other courses of action to repair the harms caused, and will be speaking to those when the timing is appropriate. Thank you to DeKalb County listener who wrote me, trusted me with their honesty, and engaged me in building a pathway towards amends. Thank you to Jess for her time, energy, and honesty in this episode today.
More soon. Solidarity,
Aja
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INDIGENOUS LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This episode and post was recorded, produced, and written on the ancestral lands of the Muscogee Creek tribe now known as “Atlanta, Ga.” It is with great conviction we will continue to persevere in an ongoing path of repair, beyond land acknowledgements, with the First Nations people not only of our region, but all of Turtle Island, to correct the course of traumatic harms done and continuing while helping create a new path forward of healing, restoration, and liberation.
