Letters to the Editor - Hide-and-seek at the AJC March 07 2007

If you think journalists hold the same lens to themselves that they hold to everyone else, read this week's lead story by John Sugg. Whether it was a case of bad ethics or territorial loss of perspective, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution handled a series by a star reporter in its Washington bureau – and follow-up coverage of a book based on the series – in a way that raises doubts about the paper's willingness to examine itself openly.

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The series bashed flawed 1977 and 1987 AJC articles about anti-black terror in Forsyth County. The book bashes the AJC for failing to run the series. Now its Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, Elliot Jaspin, is persona non grata down at the paper. And the ensuing national journalism controversy isn't seeing the light of the AJC's pages.

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Contrast that noncoverage to the local daily's thorough examination of the New York Times and the Fugees, a soccer team made up of refugees who were barred by Clarkston's mayor from using a park to practice.

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The AJC had covered the Fugees, but not like the Times, which blew it out on Sunday, Jan. 21, with an A1 article that jumped inside to two whole pages. The Times turned the Fugees into a national sensation. Within days, writer Warren St. John had a $3 million contract for a Fugees movie.

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Word is that AJC staff members were peeved that the Times stole the local show. The injustice! Smaller paper sows seeds, big boys harvest glory. Hey, welcome to the club.

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Last week, the AJC raised its own questions about the Times article. "Clarkston begs to differ with portrayal in New York Times," said the headline. The story aired Clarkston officials' complaints that the Times article was one-sided. It also pointedly worked in a June 2006 quote (showing the AJC had been on top of the story earlier). And although it quoted both St. John and a Times editor, it couldn't help but come across as sour grapes.

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Although it involves far deeper local issues, the Jaspin dispute hasn't gotten such attention from the AJC. It should, though. In a community where the largest media outlets are concentrated in the hands of one company, the Cox Enterprises-owned daily's coverage of itself and its parent company deserves an honest airing – in the AJC as well as in independent media. The Marietta Street brass doesn't seem to agree: When John repeatedly asked Editor Julia Wallace to tell the paper's side, she didn't follow the Times example. She hid behind a no comment.