The Atlanta Journal Constitution’s “Politcally Georgia” will expand from a weekly podcast to a daily radio show this fall in partnership with Public News/Talk 90.1 WABE-FM.
Longtime Georgia political reporter Bill Nigut will host the show with AJC’s correspondents Greg Bluestein, Patricia Murphy and Tia Mitchell. Nigut most recently spent a decade as host of Georgia Public Broadcasting’s “Political Rewind” until departing at the end of June after 20 years as political reporter for Cox’s WSB-TV.
The show will air weekdays at 10am.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has hired acclaimed Georgia broadcaster Bill Nigut to co-host Politically Georgia alongside the AJC’s award-winning team of Greg Bluestein, Patricia Murphy and new co-host, AJC Washington Correspondent, Tia Mitchell. The show will expand to five days a week.
In an innovative collaboration, AJC and WABE 90.1, Atlanta’s choice for NPR and PBS, will partner to air the show live (weekdays at 10 a.m.) starting this fall. The mix of hosts will rotate daily and will include guests from across the political spectrum. It will also be available as a podcast from the AJC on all platforms each day.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Bill to the AJC,” said AJC President and Publisher Andrew Morse. “His insight and experience will help make Politically Georgia a must-listen for anyone interested in this pivotal election. We’re proud to partner with WABE as we share a commitment to provide world-class political coverage to the people of Georgia.”
“WABE is proud to add Politically Georgia to the lineup of political-news sources we provide Georgia voters, from NPR’S Morning Edition and All Things Considered to our original podcasts: Political Breakfast, Under the Gold Dome, and Gold Dome Scramble,” said WABE President and CEO Jennifer Dorian. “This partnership is a great opportunity for WABE and the AJC to collaborate on a high-quality, informative radio show that will serve the needs of the Greater Atlanta area.”
About Bill Nigut
Nigut has been an icon in local broadcasting for decades, a familiar face and voice to Georgians for his political coverage. For 20 years, he served as the national and state political reporter for WSB-TV, the Atlanta ABC affiliate, where he covered five presidential campaigns, the White House and Capitol Hill, as well as Georgia politics.
In 2004, Nigut left WSB to become the CEO of Metro Atlanta Arts and Culture Coalition, before taking the Southeast Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) role in 2007. He received the Georgia Commission on The Holocaust Humanitarian Award in 2013, given to those who have “demonstrated the spirit of humanity through volunteer work, advocacy, leadership and/or philanthropy.”
For the past nine years, Nigut has hosted GPB’s “Political Rewind,” a program he created that regularly featured guests discussing state and national political stories. He also hosted a second GPB show, “Two Way Street,” a long-form conversation program with artists, authors, chefs, and scientists, among others. In 2021 he was inducted into the Georgia Association of Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame for “career achievement and the lasting impact on Georgia’s broadcasting industry.”
Nigut grew up in Chicago, where he developed his love of rough-and-tumble politics, the Chicago Bears and the Bulls.
“Georgia is a crucial state that is entering a crucial election season. Our citizens need a forum for sanity, reason and to break down the events of the day,” Nigut said. “I’m honored to join the ranks of the AJC reporters and editors I’ve admired over the course of my career at a time when the paper is doubling down on its coverage across the South – and airing the show on WABE 90.1 will broaden our reach even more.”
Nigut arrives as the AJC is charting a course to transform the storied 155-year-old newspaper into a modern media company.
Nigut is the latest in a string of prominent editorial announcements for the AJC. Leroy Chapman Jr. was named editor-in-chief in March, becoming the first Black editor in the paper’s history. Chapman then announced the hiring of Sharif Durhams from the Washington Post to be the AJC’s Managing Editor for news and famed Atlanta broadcaster Monica Pearson has joined the AJC’s staff to launch a podcast this fall, write a column and contribute to a newsletter. Writer, editor and leader Mike Jordan also just joined as the new senior editor for the media company’s Black culture team and Janel Davis has rejoined the AJC as managing editor over features, food and sports news where she will oversee new initiatives, returning from The Washington Post where she was deputy education editor since Dec. 2021.
This story first appeared on radioinsight.com