As 2013 draws to a close, I wanted to take a moment to thank you for reading The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Your support means we can produce important journalism that makes a difference in our community.
In the last year, the AJC newsroom has worked to provide you stories and investigations that influenced change — from bringing about ethics reforms to exposing flaws in the laws designed to protect Georgia’s children. Every day, our experienced reporters dig deep to uncover the truth. Their work helps hold public officials accountable and makes a difference in our community.
Here are 13 stories that made a difference in 2013. If you missed any, take a moment to click through and read them online. Your support of our great journalism made them possible.
-- Kevin Riley, Editor
1. One of the biggest stories of the year involved the secret negotiations that moved the Atlanta Braves to Cobb County. AJC reporters Tim Tucker, Dan Klepal, Katie Leslie and others exposed every detail, from impact on taxpayers and traffic to a spate of nearby property sales made before the announcement. The AJC ensured the public was well informed and could comment knowledgeably to elected officials before a vote just 10 days after the announcement.
2. In ongoing coverage, statehouse reporters James Salzer and Chris Joyner took readers inside the state Capitol to see how business gets done — in secret, fueled by cash and driven by lobbyists. The reporting and a campaign by the AJC editorial page helped spark new limits on lobbyist spending and influence. The new law is not flawless, and revisions are being discussed.
3. Reporting by the AJC's Johnny Edwards revealed that Fulton County Tax Commissioner Arthur Ferdinand boosted his income to more than $380,000. Ferdinand argues his income sources are legal. But critics say Ferdinand has a staggering conflict of interest, benefiting personally while taxpayers suffer. Legislative efforts in 2014 will seek to restrict his ability to boost his income.
4. Reporters Shannon McCaffrey, J. Scott Trubey and Michael E. Kanell disclosed how nearly half the companies that committed to create jobs in return for millions of dollars in Georgia tax breaks failed to fully meet their promises. The coverage, which included analyzing thousands of pages of state documents, caught the attention of observers looking for ways to protect public dollars.
5. AJC reporters Johnny Edwards and David Wickert exposed deep flaws in the Fulton County Registration and Elections Department, including serious shortcomings in the hiring of a former director. The reporters pored over documents and interviewed everyone from experts to voters. The result: the state attorney general's office launched an investigation.
» 'Report: Fulton violated election rules'
6. Reporter Alan Judd's year-long investigation of state child protective services uncovered a culture of secrecy that shields failures and blocks the public from assessing the state division. Judd revealed that, in 2012 alone, state workers failed to recognize or act on signs that foretold the deaths of at least 25 children. The AJC also reported that a push to decrease the state's foster care rolls had left many children in dangerous situations. Following these revelations and two high-profile child-abuse deaths, Gov. Nathan Deal pledged funding for a 26 percent increase in the child protective services division's workforce.
7. Features writer Jill Vejnoska chronicled the lives touched by the Gwinnett Sexual Assault Center in a stirring Personal Journeys article and wound up helping the facility find a new home. Faced with an eviction notice from Duluth, Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter stepped in with funds that enabled the center to move to a new location.
8. Our six-part Voices on Healthcare report in print and online also kicked off a special web page for subscribers on the Affordable Care Act. The reporting began with a poll commissioned by the AJC that sampled the attitudes of Georgians toward the Affordable Care Act. In the next five installments, reporters Misty Williams, David Markiewicz and Carrie Teegardin interviewed business owners, young people, uninsured people, those with individual policies and health care providers and enabled them to discuss, in their own words, the impact of the health care law on them, their families, their employers or their workers.
9. Reporters Russell Grantham, Dan Klepal and Danny Robbins found that a pension adviser recommended that Atlanta's three public pensions invest $64 million in a fund his own firm created, raising concerns about a conflict of interest. After this revelation and the AJC's discovery that Larry Gray had not disclosed personal financial problems to state and federal regulators, the Securities and Exchange Commission subpoenaed documents related to Gray's work with pension boards around the nation. Gray has since resigned his role advising the city's employee funds.
10. The AJC showed how Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard used thousands of dollars from a little-known stash of public money to buy things unrelated to putting crooks behind bars. Howard spent $2,700 on wrought-iron security doors for his house. He bought $4,450 worth of tickets to the Bank of America Atlanta Football Classic. Some $6,000 went to a lawyers group that inducted him into its Hall of Fame. AJC reporter Willoughby Mariano revealed this and other spending of state and federal civil forfeiture money. These and other examples led to a GBI review and calls for legislation to tighten use of forfeiture funds.
» 'Lax forfeiture law loaded with potential for abuse'
11. Beat reporter Mark Niesse led detailed coverage of what some considered to be one of the most important school board elections in Atlanta public schools history. The newly-elected board, which includes six newcomers will select the next school superintendent of Atlanta public schools in early 2014.
12. AJC investigative reporters Heather Vogell and John Perry began reporting on the statistically improbable gains Atlanta public schools students were making on state standardized test scores several years ago. That led to an erasure analysis by the Georgia Department of Education and a state investigation by special prosecutors and the GBI. Beat reporters Jaime Sarrio, Mark Niesse and Bill Rankin have covered the fallout of these investigations, which culminated in indictments in March 2013. Read all our great coverage here.
13. In a related aspect of the cheating scandal, reporter Bill Torpy uncovered documents showing that Metro Atlanta Chamber officials had private misgivings about the accuracy and completeness of a blue-ribbon commission report on the cheating allegations, even as they touted the findings in public. Former chamber president Sam Williams, who retired this year, subsequently said in a letter to the AJC that he regretted not asking more questions as the cheating scandal unfolded.
