As part of the Atlanta Press Club's 50th anniversary celebrations, they are searching for Atlanta's favorite news stories over the past 50 years. Throughout the summer, people submitted their favorite news stories from the Atlanta area, which were narrowed down by a panel of Atlanta Press Club members.
My wife Kristin and I moved to Dunwoody in 1996 from Chicago, therefore we personally missed much of this history but I thought the articles were interesting enough to share, though they somehow missed one of my favorites.
1964 – 1969
Who’s Out of Step in Atlanta (1964) By Eugene Patterson for The Atlanta Constitution
Eugene
Patterson’s work won the Pulitzer Prize and drew widespread attention to
the Civil Rights Movement as it played out locally, statewide and
nationally. This is one such column urging restaurant owners to
desegregate their establishments.
Nobel Prize Reminds Us (1964) By Ralph McGill for The Atlanta Constitution
This story represents the power of Ralph McGill, Pulitzer Prize-winning editor and publisher of The Atlanta Constitution. In this piece, McGill issues a call that still resonates today about personal choice, respect and Atlanta’s legacy.
1970 – 1979
Maid in Atlanta (1971) by Anne Siddons for Atlanta Magazine
Long before best-selling book The Help, Siddons examined the real lives of Buckhead’s domestic workers. Siddons went on to become a bestselling author, writing Downtown about her early years with Atlanta magazine.
Police Cheating Scandal (1977) by Richard Belcher for Fox5 Atlanta
In what
became one of Atlanta’s biggest news events of the late 1970s, WAGA-TV
reporter Richard Belcher and producer Michael Carlin broke the story of
four black officers accusing Police Commissioner Reginald Eaves of
orchestrating cheating on promotional exams.
Underpaid in America (1979) by Paul Lieberman and Chester Goolrick for The Atlanta Constitution
This
series, which focuses on the minimum wage and the related issue of
immigration, speaks powerfully to the growing gap between economic
strata in Georgia and beyond.
1980 – 1989
They’re Killing Our Children (1981) by Boyd Lewis for WABE
Boyd Lewis
brought tragedy to light. This report recognized a frightening pattern:
the unsolved murders of 20 black children, and demonstrated the
overwhelming fear it brought upon Atlanta’s African-American community
and their desperation for justice.
Best Minor League Team in History (1985) by Ted Rubenstein for Southwind later airing on WABE
For more
than 60 years, The Atlanta Crackers were the most beloved and winningest
team in Atlanta. This nostalgic story transcends the years to celebrate
Atlanta’s history and its love of baseball.
The Color of Money (1988) by Bill Dedman for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This is a
powerful and exhaustively reported four-day series of more than 20
stories demonstrating that banks rarely offered credit in Atlanta’s
middle income black and integrated neighborhoods. The series and its
conclusions are fundamentally data-based and explore every aspect of
redlining in Atlanta.
Taping of Lawyer-Client Conversations Page 1 and Page 2 (1989) by Trisha Renaud for Fulton County Daily Report
Our
criminal justice system depends on lawyers being able to speak to their
clients in confidence. But in 1989, Trisha Renaud uncovered a story
about the Douglas County jail, where officials of the sheriff’s
department were regularly listening in on lawyer-client conversations.
“When AIDS
Comes Home” was the culmination of 18 months of reporting and
photography by Steve Sternberg and Michael Schwarz. The story focused on
33-year-old Tom Fox of Atlanta and the battle he waged against AIDS
with the support of his family and a community of friends who were also
infected with the virus — all of them determined to pack a lifetime into
a few months of borrowed time.
1990 – 1999
Inside The Southern Co.: Discord, Deception, Death (1991) by Rex Smith and Emory Thomas for Atlanta Business Chronicle
This piece
dives into one of the South’s most influential and secretive economic
engines. The picture it presents serves as cautionary tale for those who
would take the machinations of Southern Company lightly.
Death of a Newspaper Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8, Page 9 (1992) by Ed Bean for Georgia Trend Magazine
The most
important development on the Atlanta journalism scene in the 1990s was
the New York Times Co.’s bold decision to challenge Cox Enterprises for
supremacy in the northern suburbs. The resulting battle between the
Times-owned Gwinnett Daily News and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
resulted in what likely was the South’s last great newspaper
war. Bean’s 1992 article looks at how the war was waged and why the New
York Times Co. ultimately walked away from its ambitious expansion plans
in Atlanta.
Failing the Children (1992) by Michael Hinkelman and Emory Thomas Jr for Atlanta Business Chronicle
This piece
seems to touch on just about every aspect of Atlanta Public School’s
failures, including board governance, construction, food service and
teacher dismissals. It also includes a critical look at business
community’s failure to truly commit to the school system.
Good Money After Bad (1994) by Julie Hairston and Michael Hinkelman for Atlanta Business Chronicle
This is a
comprehensive review of mismanagement and corruption at the Atlanta
Housing Authority. This piece was instrumental in creating a clean slate
for the arrival of Renee Glover, who would become the next Atlanta
Housing Authority CEO.
Used To Being Boss, Ted Turner is Mulling His Time Warner Role (1995) by Anita Sharpe for The Wall Street Journal
This
piece explained the details behind the merge of Turner Broadcasting into
Time Warner Inc. The piece ponders Ted Turner’s diminished role, the
industry and the strategic imperatives behind the merger.
On July
30, 1996, the media descended on Richard Jewell, the security guard at
Centennial Olympic Park hailed for discovering a bomb, then suspected of
planting it. That week Ann Woolner wondered whether Jewel might be
innocent. Attached is her resulting opinion column.
East Lake Golf Club (1997) by Jimmy Roberts for ABC Sports
This is
the story of how East Lake Golf Club was turned from an urban disaster
into a nationally recognized jewel. It reports how a city and a
developer changed a dark nest of crime and poverty into a beacon of hope
and opportunity.
Georgia’s Forgotten Children (1999) by Jane Hansen for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The impact
of this story continues to resonate 15 years later as the state
grapples with a child welfare system that has proved invulnerable to
reform efforts. The debate these stories fuelled and the problems they
revealed make them a milestone in Georgia journalism.
2000 – 2010
Exec Finding Light After Dark Days (2000) by Maria Saporta for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Back in
2000, depression among CEOs was never discussed or even acknowledged. In
a ground-breaking move, Larry Gellerstedt III – in a story that took
about six months to come together – was willing to talk about his
intense struggles with depression. The story helped to remove the stigma
of depression in corporate circles and make it more acceptable for CEOs
to seek help for mental illness.
Killing Arc A ‘Bitter Pill’ for Barnes Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 (2002) by Sarah Rubenstein and Walter Woods for Atlanta Business Chronicle
These four
stories on the Northern Arc, a $2.2 billion road that was meant to be
former Governor Roy Barnes’ legacy to Georgia, reveal serious ethics
questions about the Barnes administration and a number of other state
officials. The articles become a factor in Barnes failed reelection
bid.
Well Known, Well Made and Well Liked: The Story of Atlantic Steel (2005) by Kate Sweeney for WABE
Atlantic
Station is a modern mixed-use district with shops, townhouses, office
buildings and park space. Yet for nearly a century, the land that makes
up this modern neighborhood was the site of a different kind of city
landmark: Atlantic Steel. WABE’s Kate Sweeney spoke with six former
employees of Atlantic Steel and its union about what it was like both to
work there and to experience its demise.
The Talented Dr. Krist (2006) by Steve Fenessy for Atlanta Magazine
This piece
follows a man convicted of kidnapping and burying an Emory student
alive, as he manages to reinvent himself as a small-town doctor. The
piece was selected for the 2007 edition of the Best American Crime
Writing.
Coretta Scott King: Reserved But Never Reticent (2006) by Cynthia Tucker for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This column presents a rare unguarded glimpse of one of The South’s most treasured women: Coretta Scott King.
This is a
story of race, of conscience, of community, of unlimited resources and
of a mother’s love. It lays out events and the law clearly without being
sensational.
“You Have Thousands of Angels Around You” (2007) by Paige Williams for Atlanta Magazine
This
article shares the tale of an orphaned teenage refugee from Burundi and
the Atlanta family and community who gave her a second chance in life.
Cheating our Children: Surge in CRCT Results Raises ‘Big Red Flag’ (2008) by John Perry and Heather Vogell for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reignited
the national debate over standardized test scores as the primary
measure of improving public schools when its reporting led to an
investigation which found that 44 out of 56 Atlanta schools cheated on
the 2009 CRCT.
The Fall of House Speaker Glenn Richardson (2009) by Dale Russell for Fox5 Atlanta
It was the
story that led to the resignation of Georgia’s second most powerful
public official, a total shake-up in Georgia’s legislative leadership,
and the promise of strong ethics reform throughout the state.
2010 – Present
Around the Clock at Waffle House (2010) by Besha Rodell for Creative Loafing
This is
a feature on one of Atlanta’s favorite establishments. The article
paints a vibrant picture of a day inside the Waffle House on Cheshire
Bridge Road.
The Other 284 Days by Rebecca Burns (2013) for Atlanta Magazine
This story
paints a gritty, yet empathetic, picture of the stark contrast between
Turner Field, Home of the Atlanta Braves, and the impoverished and
neglected neighborhood that surrounds it.
