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GOP Gov Appoints Obama Conspiracy Theorist to Georgia Public Broadcasting
It seems Big Bird just can’t catch a break. Thanks to Governor Nathan Deal, Chip Rogers, the disgraced former Georgia Senate Majority Leader and former treasurer of ALEC, just became the second highest paid employee at Georgia Public Broadcasting, the third largest public broadcasting system in the nation.
The once=powerful Rogers became national news and resigned from the Senate in shame after he hosted training for GOP lawmakers on Agenda 21, a bogus conspiracy theory comparing Pres. Obama to Soviet Union dictator Joseph Stalin and claiming the president, the Chamber of Commerce and developers use cold war era mind-control techniques on citizens.
Rogers, who believes that public-private partnerships, sustainability and green jobs are all a rouse to force citizens to give up their private property rights will, ironically, host a yet-to-be-defined radio program on economic development. Roger’s “vast” experience in broadcast journalism peaked with his role as “Will the Winner” who helped sell information on which gamblers bet.
Gov. Deal made the controversial appointment on Dec. 4 but did not disclose the $150,000 salary until the close of business on Jan. 18, the Friday before the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Rogers started his job as Executive Producer on Tuesday and will draw a 100 percent taxpayer funded salary that is almost twice the salary of any other Executive Producer at GPB. The job was never advertised and still does not have a written job description.
Yesterday, veteran GPB executive producer Ashlie Wilson Pendley resigned in protest after learning that Rogers, who will also be an executive producer, would be hired at nearly three times her salary. During Nathan Deal’s administration, Georgia Public Broadcasting has faced budget cuts of over 14%, forcing cuts in staff.
Although Gov. Deal spent Wednesday saying he did not hire Rogers and pinning the blame on GPB (see WSB-TV), the original announcement confirms that Deal made the appointment. (Audio of Chip Rogers saying Gov. Deal approached him about the appointment: WABE Interview)
It’s clear that Gov. Deal knows he made a mistake because he won’t even acknowledge his own appointment that he was so proud of only a month ago. Instead, he’s lying about who hired Chip Rogers and throwing Georgia Public Broadcasting under the bus.
We can stop this brazen abuse of power by Governor Deal. An online petition that generates emails to Governor Deal, the President and Board of Directors of Georgia Public Broadcasting is available here. , The message is simple: Save Big Bird; Fire Chip Rogers.
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Nonsense
Jan. 24th, 2013 at 2:27 pm
Big government spending!!!!!!!!!!
D. W. Skinner
Jan. 24th, 2013 at 2:46 pm
These people are just guaranteeing that no one will EVER vote FOR a republican again!
Bruce Patterson
Jan. 24th, 2013 at 4:48 pm
We can only hope.
Techfan
Jan. 24th, 2013 at 2:58 pm
Kimberley
Jan. 24th, 2013 at 8:17 pm
As much as I hate to agree, you are right. I’m from GA and I’m surrounded by the idiots that vote for anything with an “R” after it, as long as the thing is white and has a penis.
Shiva(Moderator)
Jan. 24th, 2013 at 8:34 pm
I dont know about the penis but its the same here in Knoxville
A Small Town Writer
Jan. 24th, 2013 at 3:12 pm
Sorry, making Deal out to be the only bad guy in this story is disingenuous. GPB President Teya Ryan isn’t blameless in this. She could – and should – have resisted or even resigned – if she had as much integrity as the much lower level producer who DID resign. She agreed to the appointment, and it’s one one of HER pet projects. This is from the pubcasting industry publication, CURRENT:
www.current.org/2012/12/g...
Kitty Conrad
Jan. 24th, 2013 at 3:17 pm
Well, Techfan, for 150 years these same Georgia folks voted for several sacks of horse manure because they all had a (D) behind their names, so what else would you expect when a state converts from one party to another party?
Amy Morton
Jan. 24th, 2013 at 3:33 pm
I know that Ryan says that there was no political pressure; however, we believe otherwise and the timeline for the appointment – and that’s what it was – included Ryan being called into the Governor’s office by Chris Riley, the governor’s spokesperson, on October 26, 2012 for a meeting with the Governor and about-to-be re-elected Sen. Chip Rogers. The Governor has been mute on the content of that meeting, and we wouldn’t know about it at all except for local press filing open records requests and discovering the emails. Did Ryan have a choice? Sure. But Deal shoved this one down their throat. He wanted Rogers out of the senate because he didn’t want a nasty fight over the medicaid bed tax. I suspect Ryan’s “choices” could have impacted her budget, and I wonder if she had said no if she would have lost her job. But, to the extent Ryan is providing political cover for Deal, she should be ashamed.
I should also note that we have asked for the full cost of this position – that will produce zero programming until later in the spring- but we don’t have those answers yet. Apparently, it’s quite the contract.
Judy M
Jan. 24th, 2013 at 8:22 pm
Has anyone ever said what “qualifications” Rogers supposedly has to have this type of position? (And, Nathan Deal’s qualifications for governor are almost as shaky/shady as Rogers’ qualifications for his GPB job. Yes, I live in GA and am appalled at how much politics have gone backwards since the Republicans took over 10+ years ago.)
John F
Jan. 24th, 2013 at 10:20 pm
so tell me more about how someone that was thrown out of a governing body for promoting drastic un-researched ideas should be put in a position in a organization that requires him to make sure the content produced said organization is well researched…
djchefron(Moderator)
Jan. 25th, 2013 at 1:16 pm
The crazy that is Georgia will get a wee bit more crazy.
Saxby Chambliss is stepping down as Senator.
Lets take a look who is the bullpen
1.Rep. Tom Price.Thinks your bible will be taken away because of the gays
2.Rep. Lynn Westmoreland .You might remember for his attack on a Clinton aide
blogs.ajc.com/political-i...
3.Rep. Paul Broun could be the craziest man to ever serve in Congress.
4.Rep. Phil Gingrey, an OB-GYN. nuff said
5.Rep. Tom Graves would rather shut down the government than allow any federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
This and many more will be seeing who can out crazy the other.Get your popcorn ready
Small Town Writer
Jan. 25th, 2013 at 1:22 pm
As someone who once worked at GPB (for many years), here’s my thinking on the whole GPB/Chip Rogers/Nathan Deal/Teya Ryan scandal, for what it’s worth: Teya Ryan has to go. She has repeatedly said she wasn’t pressured, and that taking on Chip Rogers was her decision. Teya Ryan could have put up a fight, but she didn’t. No, it took a staff producer making under $55K to stand up and speak out. Teya Ryan, the person who is charged with the responsibility of safe-guarding the integrity of the organization – and who is making WELL over $150K – just stepped aside and let Chip and the Governor stroll through the door, agendas in hand. We can’t trust her to protect public broadcasting in Georgia. If this is her decision in this blatant case of cronyism and governmental interference, then she’s probably done something like it before and will most likely do something like it again. Sure, Chip Rogers has to go, but Teya Ryan has to go, too. Anything less will continue the betrayal of the people’s trust, and GPB will be irrevocably crippled.