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
I-Team: Thousands ticketed by school zone cameras set up further from the school than law allows
The FOX 5 I-Team found a pair of automated school zone cameras in southwest Atlanta set up too far away from an elementary school under Georgia law, but the city and Atlanta Public Schools aren't budging on more than 6K citations issued there. Under the 2018 law legalizing the cameras, school zones must be within 1,000 feet of a school boundary, but one camera for the Fickett Elementary school zone stands double that distance away.
Deputy police chief accused of sexual assault retires from Atlanta VA
Accused of sexually assaulting a woman, the deputy chief of the Atlanta VA's troubled police department has retired while under investigation, disappointing his alleged victim. Johnnie McCullor had been suspended with pay since May. Police Chief Beverly Banks, heard in a leaked audio saying, "I don't want to hire black women," remains suspended while a national team of VA investigators probes a dysfunctional department culture.
Ex-employee claims indicted Hall County solicitor retaliated after she spoke to the GBI
A former executive assistant to Hall County Solicitor General Stephanie Woodard claims in a lawsuit her boss retaliated after she cooperated with GBI agents, whose probe led to Woodard's 24-count felony indictment. The Whistleblower lawsuit against both Woodard and the county government says the former assistant, Michelle Daniel, went to Human Resources for help, but instead wound up getting the boot.
After I-Team investigations, ATL and Riverdale to automatically refund drivers wrongly ticketed by speed cams
Drivers who automatically received speeding tickets from school zone cameras, which they didn't deserve, will get their money back automatically. The FOX 5 I-Team uncovered thousands of bogus tickets caused by cameras being out of sync with flashing school zone lights. Two cities, Atlanta and Riverdale, have begun issuing refunds, and motorists won't have to go out of their way to get their money back.
Douglas County probate judge charged with felony in Atlanta
A controversial Douglas County probate court judge is facing multiple charges after she was arrested at a Buckhead lounge early Thursday morning.
Hall County Solicitor Stephanie Woodard faces multiple felony charges after FOX 5 I-Team probe
Hall County Solicitor Stephanie Woodard was indicted Tuesday afternoon on multiple charges of theft by taking and false statements.
Clayton County sheriff under fire for spending $3 million on take-home EVs amid budget shortfall
Clayton County Sheriff Levon Allen faces criticism for spending $3 million on a fleet of electric cars. They're not for moving prisoners or chasing criminals, but take-home cars for jail workers' daily commutes, a way to recruit and retain employees. The purchase irks some critics because Allen blew through his allotted budged, the county lacks charging stations and some of the cars have been sitting in a parking lot unused, still bearing dealer tags.
Where faulty school zone flashers caused unfair tickets, clearer street signs might have allayed confusion
In the spot on Memorial Drive where faulty school zone flashers misled thousands of drivers into unfair speeding tickets, the FOX 5 I-Team finds clearer street signs might have allayed confusion, but original plans approved by GDOT got changed by the city and the private camera contractor.
I-Team finds more school zone cameras ticketed drivers unfairly, this time in east Atlanta
The FOX 5 I-Team found thousands more bogus tickets issued by automated school zone speed cameras, this time on a busy road in East Atlanta. People ticketed unfairly will receive refunds.
Doraville PD releasing some drivers charged with DUI, while others go to jail
Doraville denies giving an ex-councilman special treatment when, instead of taking him to jail on a DUI charge, an officer drove him home. A review of records by the FOX 5 I-Team finds Doraville PD takes some DUI suspects to jail, and lets others go, which may be a bigger problem. The city blames a policy change by the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office, which has Doraville struggling at times to cover its shifts.