Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue's office is going head to head with Atlanta Journal-Constitution Editorial Page Editor Cynthia Tucker, with Perdue's press spokesman accusing her and the state's largest newspaper of "hypocrisy and censorship" about tax breaks given to the newspaper for a construction project.

Following are the salvos being exchanged.

"State of Georgia
"Office of the Governor

"Hypocrisy alert! AJC censors opinion piece, hides truth

"Part of trend which led newspaper to lose more subscribers that any major newspaper in the country, save one

"ATLANTA - In today's [Nov. 17] edition, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution used a form of censorship to hide its own hypocrisy. The editorial page ran a lead editorial criticizing Governor Perdue for using tax and other incentives to lure 2,000 new jobs to Georgia, specifically, a significant expansion of Aflac's operations in Columbus. They called the incentives 'corporate welfare.'

"The AJC solicited an equal time piece from the Governor's Office to offer an alternative perspective -- a perspective the Governor's Office provided. The rebuttal pointed out that Cox Enterprises, parent company of the AJC, received millions in property tax incentives to relocate its corporate headquarters to Fulton County. That portion of the equal time piece was ordered deleted by Cynthia Tucker, the paper's editorial page editor.

"'This is a form of censorship and it points out a major problem at the AJC. They are a liberal, blue state paper in the middle of an increasingly conservative red state,' said Dan McLagan, communications director for Governor Perdue. 'What's worse, they see themselves as the arbiters of truth, and in our judgment, eagerly omit facts and opinions which do not fit their world view.'

"Whether consciously or subconsciously, Georgians have taken notice. The Newspaper Association of America recently reported that the AJC lost a larger percentage of its subscribers than any major daily newspaper, save one: the San Francisco Chronicle. The AJC lost more subscribers than the scandal-plagued New York Times, more than the Boston Globe. In a six-month period ending in September, 8.73 percent of AJC subscribers dropped subscriptions.

"The following is the equal time piece in its entirety ...

"Unbelievably, the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) is opining against jobs for Georgians. The AJC editorializes today that the state of Georgia should not spend taxpayer dollars to encourage businesses to grow in Georgia. When Cox Enterprises, parent company of the AJC, returns the $6.7 million in Fulton County property tax incentives it received to locate its headquarters in the county, then it will have the credibility to make such judgments.

"Incentives are essential to bring and keep successful economic projects to Georgia. In a recent survey, Site Selection magazine, an influential trade publication, found that incentives are in fact the top determinant for companies picking a location.

"Incentives are not always financial. They can include workforce training, such as that given by Georgia's internationally acclaimed Quickstart training program. University research and development partnerships are highly valued, as are local tax abatements. Governor Perdue has put in place strict policies to ensure that if a company receives business assistance and doesn't live up to its commitments, it doesn't receive the assistance.

"Georgia is considered in consultant circles to be very conservative with incentives. Other states are much more aggressive. What we look for is what every well-run business looks for: return on investment. And we think Aflac, as a longtime, native Georgia company, offers a good return on investment, not only in the way its successes reflect on and filter down economically to the people in the Columbus region, but to the state as a whole.

"Since January of 2003, Georgia has announced 436 new business projects, creating 31,975 jobs, investing $5.6 billion dollars worth of investments into Georgia communities. We owe it to the citizens of Georgia to continue this trend, and not to stand by while jobs and economic opportunity slip away to other states."

In reply in the Nov. 18 AJC, Tucker said the paper edited out the part about Cox Enterprises receiving a tax break because of closeness to the paper's deadline and the need to fact-check the governor's spokesman's assertion.

"Cox received $3.4 million in property tax incentives over a 10-year period from Fulton County, according to Bob Jimenez, vice president for corporate communications and public relations," Tucker said in a reply to the charges.

"'Cox did not seek or receive any financial incentive that was unavailable to any other similarly situated corporation who requested them from the Development Authority of Fulton County,'" Tucker reported a company official said. "'Many other companies in Fulton County, both large and small, have, in fact, received the same types of benefits. Throughout this process, the AJC wrote about the development and it was debated in public forums and neighborhood organizations.'"

The governor's office fired another round Friday, as follows:

"Statement of Dan McLagan, Communications Director for Governor Perdue

"ATLANTA -- Dan McLagan, communications director for Governor Perdue issued the following statement today [Nov. 18]:

"'I was gratified to see Cynthia Tucker respond in today's AJC to my observations of hypocrisy and censorship at her newspaper. I was also amused by her defense and felt that I should share my observations about it with the broader audience which has now found the topic of interest. This is in lieu of writing an opinion piece which Ms. Tucker would likely not run as it contradicts the liberal worldview of the Cox media empire.

"'This all revolves around a lead editorial in the paper yesterday [Nov. 17] condemning Governor Perdue for luring 2,000 new Aflac jobs to Columbus with tax incentives. The AJC asked us to present an alternate opinion and we did. One of the central points of our response was that the paper's position was hypocritical because their parent company, Cox Enterprises, which also owns WSB-TV, solicited (through a consultant group) and received tax incentives to locate its corporate headquarters in Fulton County.

"'Ms. Tucker claims that my previous statements on this topic were "inaccurate" and that she needed to censor me essentially for my own good. The "inaccuracy" she refers to is the fact that I had submitted an opinion piece on the topic months before, but referred to "Cox Communications" as the parent company rather than "Cox Enterprises." It is terribly difficult to keep track of the sprawling liberal conglomerate controlled by Anne Cox Chambers. They didn't run that opinion piece -- in fact they never responded to me at all.

"'The tax breaks are indisputable and are spelled out in black and white in documents I obtained from the Fulton County Attorney's Office under the state's open records laws. The tax documents and at least one other media outlet say $6.7 million, Ms. Tucker says $3.4 million.

"'By the way, this champion of openness in government had the consultants representing them refer to the incentive/development deal as "Project Mercury" -- presumably in order to hide the identity of the company (Cox) seeking the incentives. When they eventually went public, the AJC did write several stories about their new building -- none mentioned the tax incentives.

"'Ms. Tucker also claims that I removed a press release from our website because of said inaccuracies. That is not true and, in fact, I have no idea what she's talking about. In the interest of full disclosure, I frequently have trouble understanding her.'"

-- Compiled by Cal Beverly, editor, The Citizen