Categories: OLD Media Moves

Journalist stands by story removed from Atlanta Business Chronicle site

Maria Saporta writes that she stands by her story that was removed from the Atlanta Business Chronicle website that stated that the Invest Atlanta CEO resigned due to pressure from the city’s mayor.

Saporta writes, “That said, I stand behind the facts included in my story. Plus I believe my story provided readers insights into what really happened among the players involved.

“As much as I admire Katie Leslie, a journalist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, her story on Richard’s forced resignation never explained the why.

“The next morning, the story was included in the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s morning email. By that afternoon, the mayor had reached out to the relatively new publisher – David Rubinger – to complain about my story and the fact that I had not sought a comment from him.

“Rubinger, in an act of good faith with the mayor, agreed on Friday to take down story from the Chronicle website. I was informed of that decision after the fact, and I told my ABC editors that I had disagreed with their decision.

“At 7 p.m. on Friday, the Mayor’s office issued a scathing press release accusing me of not following journalistic standards, using as evidence the Chronicle’s removal of my story.

“Over the weekend, I had numerous conversations with my editors and colleagues at the Chronicle, with other top journalists in Atlanta as well as key business and civic leaders who were all concerned by what had happened.

“Here is a joint statement from Rubinger and David Allison, the editor of the Chronicle:

Maria Saporta has been a valued contributor to the Atlanta Business Chronicle since 2008. We stand by her reporting, and we look forward to her work in the Chronicle for years to come.
Regarding her reporting about the dismissal of Craig Richard on SaportaReport, the story was posted on the Chronicle website as though it had been written for the Chronicle even though it had not been read by any of the editors.
We are not questioning the accuracy of Maria’s reporting. We made the decision to remove the story from the Chronicle website because she had not reached out to the Mayor’s office for comment.
We also knew interested readers would be able to access full text of the story by going to SaportaReport.com.”