Kemp’s Latest GPB Board Appointments Confirmed
The Georgia Senate approved Gov. Brian Kemp’s list of appointments to state commissions last week including six to the nine-member Georgia Public Telecommunications Commission, the body that oversees Georgia Public Broadcasting.
The Senate Press Office sent a link to video of the floor vote and confirmed via email the list included former state Senator Cecil Staton among the Gov.’s new or re-appointments to the Commission.
Legislative Day 32–2023 Session — 3/13/23 on Vimeo
All appointments were confirmed by a single vote. That’s not unusual. Service on commissions is unpaid and a single Senate vote per session is common.
Video of the floor vote shows senators were given the option to ask for any name to be voted on separately. No such motion was made.
The Gov.’s appointments were first referred to the Senate’s Committee on Assignments which includes State Senator Brandon Beach and is chaired by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.
Beach and Jones were advertisers and guests on the MAGA-friendly John Fredericks Radio Network and the related website Georgia Star News. Both outlets clashed with GPB over coverage of Georgia’s election recounts and President Trump’s interference.
That no one on the Committee on Assignments tried to make a partisan “swipe” at GPB over its board appointments maybe good, but the lack of much public discussion on GPB is not.
Jones, as Lt. Gov., is still the subject of critical news coverage from outlets like the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, as public officials should be, but the AJC’s relationship with GPB and the state network’s governance are not discussed much in either news coverage or governmental forums.
AJC owner Cox Enterprises now has extensive ties to state policy initiatives with its investment in Rivian and automotive interests. Gov. Kemp and the state legislature have made electric vehicles central to the state’s economic development.
The AJC dominates news coverage of the state, often setting the agenda or framing coverage other news outlets, including national newspapers, pick up on or echo.
Compared to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s combative relationship with the press or stories of interference at West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Georgia’s seemingly friendly dealings among public figures and the media might seem healthy.
Board appointments sail through, “swipes” are done behind the scenes.
But that’s a low bar.
Loss of trust in the media not only includes conservative or leftist concerns over bias but suspicion of elitism and insider relationships. Efforts to “save local journalism,” incl. in Georgia, will need public support and assurances the efforts serve the public interest, not just the legacy institutions, and their political allies, now under threat from digital disruption.
The smooth Senate confirmation process has led to hiccups in the past. Two of then Gov. Nathan Deal’s late term appointments were confirmed despite being ineligible to serve. Both managed to serve several years before the discrepancy was caught.