Election edition still selling out

(Photo: Jackie Ricciardi/The Augusta Chronicle)

People were lining up at the News Building at 7 a.m. today to buy copies of The Chronicle's late election edition published on Wednesday. Some people came by at 11 p.m. last night. The Chronicle produced a special street edition with election results about 4 a.m. on Wednesday. This late edition featured a large front-page photo of president-elect Barack Obama and his family. About 8,500 copies of that newspaper were put in grocery store racks and vending machines on Wednesday morning. That version was designed to be eye-catching and visible from a distance to help drive sales in racks and by hawkers - people who sell the newspaper on the street. The election edition sold out quickly on Wednesday morning.

The Chronicle printed another 4,000 copies yesterday and sent a new supply to stores. A portion of these newspapers are being sold right now in our cashier's office. At 11:30, there were more than 50 people in the line that goes through the lobby and out the front door Some customers are buying five, 10 and 20 copies apiece, so we are reprinting another 7,500 copies today. The earlier editions of Wednesday's newspapers sold out and today's issues are also selling rapidly.

The Lydia Project offers faith, hope and love

I learned about a wonderful local organization today while attending The Augusta Chronicle's Think Pink luncheon. The Lydia Project is a non-profit agency that offers support and encouragement to women with cancer. The organization, which has an office on Arsenal Avenue, provides women around the world with handmade tote bags that are cut, sewn and monogrammed by volunteers.

Carol Sayers, a board member for the agency and a cancer survivor for 23 years, told me that volunteers meet once a week to pray for each woman receiving a tote bag before it is mailed. The bag includes a personal note of encouragement and other materials of support. Additional notes are sent to the patient once a month for a year. The organization has over 400 volunterers.

Amy Breitmann, the director of development and a co-founder of the Lydia Project, was a speaker at the lunch. She was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer when she was 29 years old and eight months pregnant. She described being in the hospital and receiving cancer treatment while holding her new daughter in her arms - "facing life and death at the same time," she said. Mrs. Breitmann said the tote bags carrying messages of faith, hope and love are as powerful as the radiation being used to treat the cancers. The newspaper presented a $500 donation to Mrs. Breitmann at the end of the lunch. You can learn more about The Lydia Project, online at http://thelydiaproject.org

Jill Wagner, a volunteer with The Lydia Project, shows one of the organization’s tote bags for women with cancer.

Amy Breitmann, a cofounder of The Lydia Project.

Lois Monro (left) and Carol Sayers are board members for The Lydia Project. They attended Thursday’s Think Pink Luncheon at Savannah Rapids Pavillion. The event is one of many being held in connection with Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

A beautiful pageant

This delightful image showing five participants in the Miss Senior Georgia-Carolina Pageant was published on page 2A of Sunday’s Chronicle. Staff Photographer Michael Holahan took the photo during a late-afternoon dress rehearsal for the pageant which was held Saturday night at Augusta State University’s Maxwell Performing Arts Theater.

You can view more of his beautiful pictures on Page 3 of today’s Richmond County Neighbors section and even more online.

What made this a good photo opportunity?

Michael was our lone photographer shooting events in Augusta on Saturday. His day started at 8 a.m. with photos of the Broad Street Ramble, and later he covered a Colonial life reenactment at the Ezekiel Harris house. Although his shift ended at 5 p.m., Michael went back to the Maxwell theater for the pageant Saturday night and took photographs of the whole evening.

“I love shooting things like that. It was just a lot of fun to see those older ladies go out and have a great time, to see older people living life to the fullest.”

A few people who were at the event or had friends participating were disappointed not to see a picture of the winner in the paper. The deadline for Page 2A of the paper on Saturday is about 8:45 p.m., and since the pageant didn’t end until 10 p.m., printing the winner's photo was not possible. There were more than 60 pages of content in Sunday’s newspaper, and 34 of them were produced live on Saturday. To complete those pages, we release them on a staggered schedule throughout the night.

We know the winner is the important news however, and thanks to Michael we were able to add the name of the winner, Patricia Hyatt, to the caption of the dress rehearsal photograph late on Saturday night. While identifying the winner is significant, I think the photo we published was best image to share with the community; it captured the spirit of this charming event, and showed several of the women competing.

Michael has been a professional photographer for 20 years. He’s been at The Chronicle for 12 years and has won many state awards for his work. He is a very talented photographer who is devoted to his craft and to our community. In addition to the time Michael spent at the pageant, he spent several hours editing, cropping, and adding captions for these photos.

We are grateful for his efforts.

A creative risk

Today's Applause cover may appear to some to be blank or missing something. I'm happy to be typing the words: This is not a mistake. The cover is designed this way intentionally to mimic the Beatles White Album. Our accompanying cover story inside Applause is about Ed Turner and Number 9 band, which is performing the music from The White Album in a concert at the Imperial Theater on Friday and Saturday night. The cover art is a visual play off the original album cover that we think Beatles fans will love. But as the Applause section rolled of the press yesterday afternoon, some cautious Production and Pressroom employees came upstairs to the Newsroom to ask "Is it supposed to look like this?" We never want to confuse our readers - life is confusing enough. But this creative and clever idea by our Features Editor Tharon Giddens and entertainment writer Steven Uhles was worth taking a chance on. Graphic artist Nate Owens did the design.

The name of the 1968 album is actually The Beatles. It is referred to as The White Album because it has no text other than the band's name (and on some early releases a serial number) on its plain white sleeve, which was designed by a pop artist Richard Hamilton. There are actually several different versions of The White Album cover, and there have been dozens of parodies by other musicians: http://www.amiright.com/album-covers/the-beatles-the-white-album-parodies/. 

Back in the trenches at ASU

Freshmen at Augusta State University may be surprised to find out who their English 1101 teacher is this semester. ASU President Bill Bloodworth said in his State of the University address this morning that he'd be teaching the class. "All the deans are teaching," a faculty member told me after the conclusion of the 15th Annual Fall Convocation. "Everybody's getting back in the trenches." State budget cuts are prompting the campus' already lean operations to get even leaner, Dr. Bloodworth said.

The new state-of-the-art facilities ASU has added over the past decade make it a very different campus from the one I graduated from in 1987. But it still feels the same. Lots of hard-working people. Back then most of my classmates at the "commuter campus" had jobs - most more than one - and often full-time. Faculty memebers such Jim Garvey, Peggy Yonce, and Marya DuBose seemed to always be working tirelessly, too. From the president down, it's clear that's still the culture today.

Newspaper mistake creates controversy

An editing error in an article in Saturday’s Augusta Chronicle has resulted in undeserved criticism of Dr. Lauren Williams, associate superintendent of student learning for Columbia County Schools.  An article about AYP results incorrectly attributed a statement to Dr. Williams. A school system news release was the source of the information stating that North Harlem Elementary and Evans High schools did not meet adequate yearly progress because black pupils did not meet federal standards for math. A correction was published on page 2A of today's newspaper. The online version of the article also includes the correction, as well as a link to the news release on the school system’s web site so readers can view the AYP summary themselves.

http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/072608/met_467175.shtml

Here is the text from the press release

“North Harlem Elementary and Evans High Schools did not make AYP in the Black Sub-Group in Mathematics. Harlem High School did not make AYP in the areas of All Students and the Economically Disadvantaged Sub-Group. Additionally, the school system did not make AYP in the Black and Students with Disabilities Sub-Groups.”

Dr. Williams did not make a statement regarding “black pupils.”  Superintendent Charles Nagle told me today that because of what was published in the Chronicle, the school administration office has received phone calls criticizing Dr. Williams for racism – some even  demanding her dismissal.    I have called Dr. Williams to apologize for creating this public misperception.

So how did this error occur?  Every article that appears in the Chronicle passes through several editors. Here is a look at how the story changed, from the reporter’s original version through two rounds of editing. The final version is what we published.

1. Dr. Williams said the schools that fell short did so because particular subgroups did not meet federal standards. According to a statement from the school system, African American pupils at North Harlem and Evans did not meet math standards. At Harlem High, economically disadvantaged students and the overall student population did not make adequate yearly progress. The school system as a whole also did not make adequately yearly progress in the African American and students with disabilities subgroups.

2. Dr. Lauren Williams, Columbia County associate superintendent of student learning, said the schools that fell short in her county did so because particular subgroups did not meet federal standards. Black pupils at North Harlem and Evans did not meet standards for math. At Harlem High, economically disadvantaged students and the overall student population did not make adequate yearly progress. The school system as a whole also did not make adequately yearly progress in the black and students with disabilities subgroups.

3. Dr. Lauren Williams, the Columbia County associate superintendent of student learning, said North Harlem Elementary and Evans High schools fell short because black pupils did not meet federal standards for math.  At Harlem High, economically disadvantaged students and the overall student population did not make adequate yearly progress. The school system as a whole also did not make adequately yearly progress among black students and those  with disabilities. 

In accordance with Associated Press style, the Chronicle does not use the phrase “African American” unless it is part of a direct quote or organization title. The terminology used in the federal No Child Left Behind standards is “Black subgroups.” Other editing changes were made to condense the content (we try to be efficient with our available space) and for clarity’s sake.

It is the Chronicle’s policy to promptly correct errors that appear in the newspaper and on our web site. The full policy is below.  We regret the controversy this error has caused for Dr. Williams and the Columbia County school system.  

28. Corrections

When errors occur, the newspaper has an ethical obligation to correct the record and minimize harm.

Errors should be corrected promptly. But first, a determination must be made that the fact indeed was in error and that the correction itself is fully accurate.

When an error has been made, it shall be acknowledged in a straightforward correction, not disguised or glossed over in a follow-up story. Print corrections and clarifications shall appear on Page 2A under the heading CORRECTIONS.

On our Web site, posted content will be changed to make a correction as soon as possible once we learn a mistake has been made. A note will be added to the top of the content explaining that the originally-posted version contained an error and that we have corrected it.  We will include the date when the correction was made, and will highlight the corrected text within the article. 

If the story is online only, the same correction procedure (a note at the top) will apply.

We will not post correction notes for online changes made to correct typos, grammatical errors, etc. – only for errors of fact. 

If it is a serious error that appeared in a breaking news alert that was e-mailed, we will re-email the corrected story to breaking-news subscribers.

Newsroom staffers should be receptive to complaints about inaccuracies and follow up on them. Newsroom staffers have a responsibility to alert the appropriate editor when they become aware of a possible error in the newspaper.

Errors should be corrected whether or not they are called to the attention of the

newspaper by someone outside the newsroom.

Factual errors should be corrected in most cases even if the subject of the error does not want it to be corrected. It is the newspaper's duty to provide accurate information to readers. An exception may be made—at the behest of the subject—when the correction of a relatively minor mistake would result in public ridicule or greater harm than the original error.

When possible, the reporter, photographer or editor who made the error should write the correction.

Although it is wise to avoid repeating the error in the correction, the correction should have sufficient context that readers will understand exactly what is being corrected.

Corrections must be approved by the managing or executive editor. The note should include an explanation of how the error occurred.

Reader complains about child pornography article

On Friday, I received a complaint from a reader about an article The Chronicle published last week about a local man's sentencing in a child pornography case. Jesse Ward, a 27-year-old former firefighter and law enforcement officer, was given 20 years - the maximum sentence - for collecting child pornography and sending such images out on the Internet.

The paragraph that the subscriber found offensive is likely this: The judge "noted that Mr. Ward had 968 images and 21 videos of children, some only babies, being raped by men -- children who were obviously in pain and crying, and children who were bound and held down."

The reader's comment: "It is completely unnecessary to print all the lurid details. Your fine newspaper is a family newspaper and as an adult, I don't want to have this stuff smack me in the face. There will be other news items on simila subjects, unfortunately. Please rethink what you are printing for all to read."

I’m sorry the article was upsetting to her and possibly others. I found the contents shocking as well. But as a parent, I also felt informed. In my response to the subscriber I explained that I believe it is important for us to alert parents to the danger that even people we think we know well might pose to our children. The specifics, while horrifying, make it clear how serious this problem is and how watchful we must all be.

Southern snowflakes on the front page

Today's front page featured a beautiful photograph taken by Staff Photographer Jackie Riccardi.

The photo showed Nicole Rossi through her frost-dotted windshield as she waited for her car to warm up on Thursday morning.

The photo was noticed by people outside the area as well. Several photo editors at the Associated Press office in New York liked the picture and selected it as one of three "Notable Photos" for today's News Digest, a list of AP's top stories and content of the day.

"It gave definition to frost and snow in a way you don't normally see," said Jim Collins, Day Supervisor of AP's New York Photo Desk. "It's more like what you would see in a painting - the way you picture snowflakes in your mind."

Ms. Riccardi said she took the photo in her driveway.

"I've seen that in New Hampshire before but I haven't seen snowflakes in Georgia," she said.

Ms. Riccardi is a University of New Hampshire graduate who worked for Seacoast Media before joing the Chronicle in October. She was named a New Hampshire Photographer of the Year for 2006.

It appears she captured a unique moment.

Although today's temperatures were equally chilly, there were no ice crystals like this on windshields outside her apartment today, Ms. Riccardi said.

"I think the morning light coming through is what made it work," she said.

4B comes to the Chronicle

Jessie Baltrusaitis (center) asks a question during 4B’s visit to The Chronicle.

 Two reporters and a photographer spoke to the group and answered questions.

Sarah Day Owen, who writes for Xtreme – the Chronicle’s teen page, told the students to ask a lot of questions when they’re reporting.

Sarah Day Owen gives the students tips on reporting.

Photographer Kendrick Brinson showed samples of her work, including an underwater pool picture she took by putting her camera in an aquarium. Kendrick said getting to do something different every day is one of the things she loves about being a photojournalist.

“One day you’re behind the scenes at the circus, the next day you’re at a ballet camp,” she said.

Staff Photographer Kendrick Brinson told students to get close to their photo subjects when they can, but not to be intrusive.

He showed the students the contents of his briefcase – the tools he uses to do his job. These include a laptop, a digital voice recorder, notebooks of various sizes, a file of background information, today’s newspaper, headphones, binoculars and a bottle of Tylenol. He gave all the students a chance to pick up the bag – which weighs 25 pounds. Chris also gave the class some of his press credentials from Georgia football games and other events.

Martin Longtin asks a question. His teacher Mr. H is in the background.

At the end of the session we reviewed the lessons of the day and practiced our reporting skills.

Lauren Dukes took notes (with help from Christopher Gates) and interviewed her fellow students for an article she is writing about the field trip.

Student Tony Do liked the sports segment best. “Because I’m a really big sports fan,” he said. Nikole Schneider said she liked seeing all the different photographs.

With help from Martin and Alexis Marie, Sports Reporter Chris Gay demonstrates how high he has to hold his digital voice recorder when interviewing basketball players who are 7 feet tall.

The students hope to publish their first edition later this month. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Here are some tips the journalists shared:

1. Research your subjects. Talk to the people you are writing about. Read as much as you can.

2. Observe what’s going on and take notes.

3. Prepare a list of questions in advance.

4. Include the five Ws: who, what, where, when, why, and how.

5. Make sure you spell everyone’s name right!