Maria Saporta
Maria Saporta is an Atlanta native and the daughter of European parents, who were active citizens of Atlanta. She is the mother of two children who also make Atlanta their home. Maria is a longtime Atlanta business and civic journalist. She spent 27 years with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as its business and civic columnist. She founded SaportaReport in 2009, to provide daily updates on local business, urban and civic issues focusing on metro Atlanta, Georgia, and beyond. Maria also provided columns and news stories for the Atlanta Business Chronicle, WABE/90.1 FM, and Atlanta Magazine among others. In 2017 SaportaReport received an award for Outstanding Public Outreach and Journalism from the Georgia Chapter of the American Planning Association. Maria was given the inaugural “Atlanta Hero” award by the Rotary Club of Atlanta on July 9, 2018. Most recently, in January 2019, Maria was inducted into Georgia Trend’s Hall of Fame.
John Ruch
John Ruch is a journalist and editor with over 25 years of experience at community and alternative newspapers. He previously served as managing editor at the Reporter Newspapers in Atlanta, where he won Georgia Press Association first-place awards for investigative reporting, business writing and other work. John has also served as editor at community newspapers in Boston, covered metro Atlanta government and politics for Creative Loafing and the Covington News, and worked as a film critic, film publicist and arts columnist. His freelance writing has appeared in such publications as the Washington Post, the Boston Globe and the Seattle Times. John can be reached at john@saportareport.com
Twitter: @JohnRuchAtlanta
Tom Baxter
Tom Baxter has written about politics and the South for more than four decades. He was national editor and chief political correspondent at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and later edited The Southern Political Report, an online publication, for four years. Tom was the consultant for the 2008 election night coverage sponsored jointly by Current TV, Digg and Twitter, and a 2011 fellow at the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas. He recently surveyed the impact of Georgia’s immigration law in a report for the Center for American Progress. Tom and his wife, Lili, have three adult children and seven grandchildren. Tom can be reached at tom@saportareport.com
Hannah Jones
Hannah Jones is a Georgia State University graduate, with a major in journalism and minor in public policy. She began studying journalism in high school and has since served as a reporter and editor for two newspapers. Hannah managed the Arts and Living section of The Signal, Georgia State’s independent award-winning newspaper. She has a passion for environmental issues, urban life and telling a good story. Hannah can be reached at hannah@saportareport.com.
Allison Joyner
Allison Joyner is a strategist and freelance writer, specializing in content creation for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Her work has been published by The Atlanta Voice, Zora by Medium, Noodle, Black American Web Diverse Issues: In Higher Education, and Wiley Publication. She has written articles about several schools including Jackson State University, Texas Southern University, The University of the Virgin Islands, and her alma mater, Clark Atlanta University. The Atlanta-based writer is a 4th generation graduate of an HBCU and knows first-hand the life-changing impact these historic institutions have on students’ lives.
Mark Lannaman
Mark Lannaman is a current graduate student at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He holds a B.A. from Georgia State University and an M.S. from Georgia Tech. He has previously worked with WABE as an intern for the Atlanta Press Club. Mark was a 2021 National Association of Hispanic Journalists mentee, 2021 Every Learner Everywhere fellow, & 2022 Society of Environmental Journalists fellow. He enjoys reporting on topics including sustainability, environment, education and urban development. Born and raised in Metro Atlanta, his family comes from Jamaica and Colombia. One of his favorite quotes is, “You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore” -André Gide.
