The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Martin Luther King Jr. FBI Files
A History of Silence
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) has long been hailed as the paper of record for Atlanta—a voice of reason, progress, and sometimes, uncomfortable truth. Yet, when it came to the uncomfortable truths of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, particularly his victimization by the FBI, the AJC’s response has often been one of silence, hesitation, or outright evasion.
This pattern of behavior didn’t start yesterday—it has roots deep in the AJC's history, and we see it once again in the 2019 failure to confront the newly revealed FBI surveillance of King. Let’s trace these key moments in time and see where the paper chose to look away.
1. The FBI Surveillance of MLK (1963–1968): A History of Government Intrusion
From 1963 to 1968, King was subject to one of the most extensive surveillance campaigns ever conducted by the FBI, an operation carried out under J. Edgar Hoover’s COINTELPRO program. These efforts to undermine King’s credibility and disrupt his leadership were authorized by the U.S. government, and while they were not deemed illegal at the time, they were deeply immoral. This surveillance is now widely acknowledged as a dark chapter in American history, particularly when it is revealed how the FBI sought to destroy a man fighting for justice.
2. The AJC’s Complicated Relationship with Civil Rights Coverage (1960s-1970s): A Murky Past
The AJC’s coverage of King’s activities during the Civil Rights Movement was not always one of support. While there were moments of editorial backing, especially when King received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, the paper often found itself on the wrong side of history—downplaying the significance of King’s work or attacking his methods. This was the backdrop of Atlanta’s media landscape in the 1960s, a city struggling to reconcile its Southern heritage with the rising tide of civil rights activism.
3. 1999 Memphis Civil Suit Verdict: The King Family Conspiracy Allegations
In 1999, Coretta Scott King and the King family pursued a civil lawsuit to investigate the conspiracy behind Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. The trial culminated in a Memphis jury ruling that there was indeed a conspiracy involving "governmental agencies" in King’s death. While the Justice Department later dismissed these findings and reaffirmed James Earl Ray as the lone assassin, the jury’s decision and Coretta Scott King’s steadfast belief in a broader conspiracy shook the nation. Yet, even with this high-profile legal outcome, the AJC barely touched the story with the depth it deserved, dismissing the conspiracy allegations as fringe theories without giving them a serious investigation.
4. 2017 JFK Assassination Records Collection Act: Unveiling the FBI’s Hidden Files
In 2017, the U.S. government released a significant cache of files related to the JFK assassination under the JFK Assassination Records Collection Extension Act. Included in this release were FBI documents detailing surveillance on King, which Garrow would later use in his 2019 research. These were not speculative documents, but FBI records—official summaries from one of the most notorious surveillance programs in U.S. history. The documents contained salacious allegations about King’s personal life, compiled through invasive surveillance that was ultimately part of the FBI’s larger effort to discredit him. Yet even though these files were now declassified and open to public view, mainstream outlets—including the AJC—refused to publish them or give them proper scrutiny.
5. 2019: David Garrow and the AJC’s Refusal
In 2019, David Garrow, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and King biographer, unearthed these newly declassified FBI files. His findings, which painted an uncomfortable picture of King’s personal life, included previously unknown details of the FBI’s campaign to discredit him. Garrow approached several major outlets, including the AJC, to publish his findings. The AJC, like The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and other major media outlets, chose not to publish. Garrow’s work was instead printed in Standpoint Magazine, a small conservative British publication, because the U.S. outlets feared the ethical and journalistic implications of airing unverified allegations. The refusal by the AJC in particular is striking because the paper, which prides itself on being Atlanta’s historical voice, chose not to confront the full extent of what was revealed—an FBI campaign designed to bring down the very man Atlanta claims as its most important native son.
It is essential to understand that the AJC’s refusal wasn’t about the validity of the information. It was about fear—fear of disrupting the image of King, fear of upsetting the Southern narrative, and perhaps most importantly, fear of angering those whose power in Atlanta rested on that very narrative.
6. 2025: The April Article and Playing Catch-Up
Now, as we approach the final release of King’s FBI files in 2027, the AJC is once again faced with its own silence. The paper’s coverage on April 16, 2025, of the upcoming 2027 file release hedged its bets. It raised doubts about whether the new documents would reveal anything new, even as it discussed King’s long and complicated relationship with the FBI. The tone of the article was cautious—perhaps even dismissive—reflecting the same reluctance the AJC has shown in confronting this subject over the years. The piece failed to grapple with the uncomfortable reality that the AJC had turned away from the truth in 2019, and by extension, it failed to reflect on its own history of hesitancy and silence.
7. The Upcoming Release: Will the Truth Finally Surface?
The FBI files on King, including assassination records, are expected soon per Trump’s 2025 executive order, with surveillance files due in 2027. But even now, the AJC and other outlets are already hedging their bets. Will the release of these files lead to a serious, unflinching investigation into the government’s persecution of one of America’s most important figures? Or will we see more of the same media reluctance that has marred the AJC's history?
The release of these files has the potential to reshape how we understand King’s legacy, how we reckon with the past, and how we confront the ghosts of our nation’s history. But it’s not just about the files. It’s about the institutions that have failed to reckon with them in the past. The AJC—our local paper, our trusted media institution—has a long history of turning away from uncomfortable truths. Will it continue that legacy, or will it finally step into the light and face the full, unvarnished history of Martin Luther King Jr.?
8. A Legacy of Silence
The story of the AJC’s refusal to publish the truth in 2019 is not just about one paper or one story. It is about the broader media landscape that has consistently failed to grapple with the most difficult parts of American history. The AJC—and the city of Atlanta itself—must confront its past if it is to move forward. But this confrontation must be honest. It must acknowledge the role that institutions like the AJC played in silencing the truth about the FBI’s campaign against King. Anything less is a betrayal of the very principles of justice and truth that King fought for.
-PJB
