Insiders say anger with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has been brewing for some time, but it finally broke out into the open yesterday with Gov. Brian Kemp accusing the paper of playing “pandemic politics.” At a heated news conference, the governor said to the newspaper’s editors that “to scare people with one number is not fair to the general public.”
That was a reference to the Atlanta newspaper’s daily focus on the number of coronavirus cases and deaths going up in Georgia but omitting or downplaying that the number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths are now on a downward trend. The governor has also been displeased lately with what some close to him say has been Atlanta newspaper stories slanted to favor Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms criticizing his COVID-19 policies while not providing objective coverage to Kemp’s policy statements and executive orders.
A Kemp press release yesterday gives “the other side of the story.” It cites a report from the Department of Public Health citing several statistics that show Georgia’s success in fighting COVID-19. Among them:
– During August 3rd through August 9th, Georgia’s weekly statewide case numbers decreased by 7 percent.
– The Centers for Disease Control report indicates that Georgia has experienced a 22 percent decrease in case numbers over the past two weeks relative to the two weeks prior to that, and that Georgia has seen a downward trajectory of cases for two weeks now.
– The highest percentage of case numbers still come from the high population counties in metro Atlanta (Fulton, Gwinnett, DeKalb and Cobb counties have the highest case numbers) but these counties are actually experiencing decreases now.
