Johnny Edwards
Johnny Edwards joined FOX 5’s I-Team as an investigative reporter in 2023, making the jump to broadcast news after 25 years in print journalism. He previously worked at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where he served on the investigative team and won numerous awards for rooting out corruption and abuse.
Over the course of his career, Johnny reported on how a county commissioner engineered a kickback scheme to cover up her financial problems and how two rural sheriffs turned jail inmates into personal laborers for their reelection campaigns and private businesses. He dodged bullets in Iraq, stood next to Chuck D at James Brown's funeral, and later became the first Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter to win an Emmy Award.
Johnny is an Atlanta native who grew up in Cobb County and graduated from the University of Georgia’s journalism school with a degree in telecommunications. After abandoning plans to become a media lawyer, in 1998 he answered an ad for a job with a North Fulton County weekly newspaper, and immediately became hooked on a career that pays people to relentlessly pursue the truth, no matter who doesn’t like it. Johnny moved on to daily newspapers in Marietta, Canton, Lynchburg, Va., and Augusta. While working for The Augusta Chronicle, he spent time as an embedded reporter with U.S. Marines and Army Reservists during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
After more than a decade away, he returned to Atlanta to work for his hometown newspaper. In 2014, he exposed how DeKalb County elected officials used their discretionary budgets for personal benefit, triggering an FBI investigation that resulted in criminal charges against a county commissioner, her husband, her chief of staff and an evangelist. Edwards won Common Cause Georgia’s Democracy Award for that work, as well as an Emmy for his collaborations with WSB-TV.
In 2016, he served on the team behind the newspaper’s "Doctors & Sex Abuse" project, a Pulitzer finalist, and recorded a related 6-episode podcast series called "Predator M.D." Johnny led the newspaper’s 2019 coverage of the Georgia House speaker’s use of legislative leave to delay criminal cases for clients of his private law practice, which won an Atlanta Press Club award for investigative reporting. In 2022, he was part of the team behind the AJC's "Dangerous Dwellings" series on persistently dangerous apartment complexes, winner of national awards from both Investigative Reporters & Editors and the National Headliners Awards.
Johnny has one adult daughter and lives in DeKalb County with his wife and their border collie. Johnny is a certified scuba diver, a jogger, a history buff, a Jekyll Island lover, a Pink Floyd fanatic and, along with his daughter, a major Hawks fan. If you have tips or story ideas, you can follow Johnny on X at @JohnEdwardsFox5 or email him at John.Edwards@fox.com.
The latest from Johnny Edwards
Jonesboro Mayor Donya Sartor retracts resignation hours later
Nearly 10 hours after announcing to the Jonesboro City Council her plans to retire, Mayor Donya Sartor has had a change of heart.
School zone camera bills: One to ban them, one to reform. But both overturn the system
In the debate over what to do with school zone speed cameras popping up all over Georgia, the state House of Representatives has approved two solutions to the same problem.
New Georgia Project faces federal labor complaint amid unionization dispute
The New Georgia Project, founded by Stacey Abrams, played a key role in turning Georgia blue during the 2020 presidential election.
Lawyer on Covington square faces Bar complaints, criminal indictment, angry ex-clients
Covington lawyer David Ozburn has been placed on interim suspension by the Georgia Supreme Court, as part of a disciplinary process with the State Bar of Georgia.
School zone speed cameras clash: Georgia lawmakers to debate on ban vs. reform
A contentious debate is unfolding over the use of automated school zone speed cameras.
Teamsters Union threatens labor complaint against New Georgia Project
Some ex-employees of New Georgia Project are accusing the progressive voter registration organization of big-time hypocrisy.
Bodycams show Atlanta police doing bare minimum to find 3 kids in peril
Disciplinary records and bodycam videos show Atlanta police doing the bare minimum to locate a 4-year-old and her brothers, despite several requests for welfare checks after their father allegedly kidnapped them from their mother in Maryland.
Fight to ban school zone speed cameras begins in Georgia House
A state lawmaker just declared war on school zone speed cameras, and he says he has quite the army to back him up.
Amid 'unacceptable behavior' probe, Atlanta VA’s police chief was about to be fired. She retired instead
All of it involving the top leadership of the Atlanta VA Health Care System’s police department.
New Georgia Project fined $300K for alleged illegal campaign activities linked to Stacey Abrams
The New Georgia Project, a grassroots organization founded by former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, has been hit with a record-breaking $300,000 ethics fine.