Fresh Loaf

With the mayor’s race still a dead heat, both candidates came out swinging in two televised debates over the weekend.

In the Atlanta Press Club debate, broadcast live on GPB Sunday evening, Kasim Reed attacked first, asserting that Councilwoman Mary Norwood had “made Atlanta less safe” by voting twice against tax increases to keep the city from furloughing cops.

Norwood then repeated a claim from the previous night’s WAGA-TV debate that some of her black supporters had been “threatened.” She cited an example of one neighbor attempting to browbeat another into voting for Reed; frankly, it sounded more like peer pressure between adults.

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If you’re still on the fence about who to vote for in Atlanta’s Nov. 3 elections — and there are plenty of you out there, we’re sure — be sure to tune to PBA on Oct. 25 and on Nov. 1.

The Atlanta Press Club’s wrangled candidates for Atlanta mayor and city council, forced them to stand at podiums, and allowed journalists to pummel them with questions.

Prerecorded APC debates for Atlanta City Council’s three At-Large posts will air Sunday morning. Atlanta mayoral candidates will participate in a live one-hour debate at 7 p.m. And a prerecorded debate between Atlanta City Council president candidates will air on Nov. 1.

The full broadcast schedule follows after the jump.

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Anyone who’s read “Sober,” Thomas Wheatley’s gut-wrenching account of his battle with alcoholism, knows that the story  does a beautiful job describing the horrors and rewards of overcoming a common — and often unacknowledged — disease. (If you haven’t read it, you should. Now.)

The Association of Alternative Newsweeklies has taken notice. “Sober” has been deemed one of the top five feature stories published by the country’s largest-circulation alt-weeklies. Other finalists for the AAN Award in the Feature Story category hail from LA Weekly, Houston Press and Denver’s Westword. The ranking of the finalists will be announced in late June.

Our sister papers, Chicago Reader and Washington City Paper, earned nominations in another six categories. Congrats guys! And congrats, Mr. Wheatley!

In other awards news, CL Photo Editor Joeff Davis is a finalist for the Atlanta Press Club’s Journalist of the Year Award in the Photography category. Go Joeff!

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Mayor Shirley Franklin will speak at a luncheon Jan. 13 about the city’s “economic challenges” and “her plans to leave Atlanta in the black.” The event is open to the public. As of now, tickets are available. I also just got word that C-SPAN will be covering the event, which will be held at the Commerce Club downtown.

Tickets are $28 for Atlanta Press Club members and $40 for non-members.

The Franklin address is part of a regular series of newsmaker luncheons hosted by the Press Club. Next month’s newsmaker is celebrated PBS journalist Gwen Ifill, who moderated the 2008 vice presidential debate (and was parodied in that role by Queen Latifah on Saturday Night Life). Ifill will offer her insights into the  presidential elections at the Feb. 3 luncheon.

(Full disclosure: I serve on the board of the Atlanta Press Club.)

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Jim Galloway reports:

Neither Democrat Jim Martin nor Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss would commit — each citing scheduling conflicts. Martin pointed to a visit from former Vice President Al Gore, and the Chambliss campaign said it had a fund-raiser on its calendar.

Press club debates involving two other runoffs, for Public Service Commission and the state Court of Appeals, will be held Sunday

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The Atlanta Press Club recently launched a blog for the local journalism community. Let ‘em know what you think, and what you’d like to see on the blog. You can leave them a comment or email me at mara.shalhoup@creativeloafing.com and I’ll pass the info along to the APC’s board, of which I’m a member.

Seems like there’s plenty of media news these days — and a genuine need for a blog that’s singularly devoted to the city’s journalists.

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Most skilled politicians have a way of artfully dodging direct questions or providing clever non-answers. Not Fulton Sheriff Myron Freeman. When asked an uncomfortable question (and for him, they’re all uncomfortable), he acts as if he didn’t understand you and proceeds to repeat his chosen talking points. Or perhaps it’s not acting.

During the Atlanta Press Club debate taped on Tuesday, Freeman kept coming back to two claims that were astonishing for the level of cynicism and shamelessness it took to make them.

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Damn, Stan!

Viewers tuning into the Atlanta Press Club debate for DeKalb CEO on GPB this coming Sunday will see a rather one-sided affair. The debate was taped earlier today, but State Rep. Stan Watson wasn’t there, apparently having called to cancel last night. That left only Commissioner Burrell Ellis, an empty podium and three print journalists – myself included – trying to make things look as interesting as possible in the absence of any real debating.

Watson missed more than his share of the numerous CEO debates before the July 15 primary, but then he was in good shape to make the runoff over several less well-funded opponents. Now, however, he’s the apparent long shot against Ellis, who took a solid 46 of the primary vote.

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RALPH REED AT ATLANTA PRESS CLUB: I swear that it’s perfectly Christian to take millions from one casino to lobby against a competing casino.

Ralph Reed is a long-time master of fiction. What J.K. Rowling has done for juvenile wizard stories, Reed has done for the myth that the Republican Party is a beacon of Christian decency. Despite his well earned reputation as a masterful teller of tales, it’s only recently that the Duluth political consultant has turned his attention to novels.

Reed’s new book, Dark Horse, is a “political thriller” about a fictional presidential campaign featuring a black Democratic candidate, a loudmouthed minister and an assassination. Discussing the book at the Atlanta Press Club last Thursday, Reed said any parallels to the actual 2008 campaign are coincidental since he started the book years ago.

Asked about this year’s campaign, Reed said if the election is about style that Obama will win, but if it’s about substance that McCain will win. Never mind polls that show voters consistently agree more often with Democrats on policy issues. Once a tale-teller, always a tale-teller.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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TAX BREAK: IRS extends tax deadline to May 19 for tornado victims in eight Georgia counties, including Fulton and DeKalb.

HOSPITAL SHOOTING: Three dead at Columbus hospital after a man goes on a shooting rampage. The suspect was shot in the shoulder by police, is in stable condition and charged with murder.

DEKALB POLICE: Grand jury calls for criminal investigation in six of the 12 fatal shootings by DeKalb police in 2006; DeKalb D.A. says the county will act on the recommendation.

TROY DAVIS: Attorneys ask state Supreme Court to reconsider its March 17 rejection of newly discovered evidence in the case.

GRAVE CONDITION: Tornado damage in Wren, Ga., unearths unmarked grave believed to belong to a Revolutionary War soldier.

WALK IT OUT: Norcross plainclothes cop tests testy drivers by walking back and forth on a crosswalk across Jimmy Carter Boulevard intersection, while uniformed cops lie in wait.

PRECESSION: President of Atlanta Federal Reserve says “slowdown” will last longer than previously predicted and may still become a recession. Also, AccessNorthGa.com expertly illustrates local effects of the economic downturn with this news graphic. [UPDATE: Apparently this story, and its graphic, have been taken down. But here's a screen shot.]

LIFE IN THE FAT LANE: Overweight Henry County man is denied bus service, despite weighing less than the posted weight limit for hydraulic wheelchair lift on county bus.

WTF, MSM? Local bloggers attended the Atlanta Press Club event on “Ethics and New Media: How the Blogosphere is Affecting Journalism and Business” last night. We’re still waiting on impressions from such folks as Shelbinator, GriftDrift and MostlyMedia.

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ATLANTA PRESS CLUB PANEL: Everyone is excited about the Internet.

Last Thursday at the Atlanta Press Club, the Honeycomb Hideout of Atlanta journalism, four local masters of political webitude participated in a panel discussion on how electronic media are affecting political campaigns.

Former AJC-er and current Southern Political Report-er Tom Baxter noted how the Web allowed for a proliferation of political news outlets such as Politco and the Huffington Post. The entire panel — which included CNN.com’s John Helton, Shelby “Shelbinator.com” Highsmith and James “Griftdrift.blogspot.com” Williams — agreed the electronic media allow both facts and bullshit to go further and faster than ever, and for average people (be they bloggers, YouTubers or idiots who think Sen. Barack Obama is Muslim) to shape political debates in ways that were, until 10 years ago, limited to people with access to TV studios or printing presses.

So how are electronic media affecting campaigns? They are changing the tools, the tactics and speed without necessarily changing underlying principles.

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