CL’s best stories of the year according to CL
From Stankonia to Sweet Auburn, the Rock*A*Teens to Dasher, a round up of our favorite reads
It’s Dec. 19 so it’s time for a list. But a list you won’t find anywhere else on the internet. This week I asked CL editorial staffers to each pick her/his ultimate best favorite Creative Loafing story from 2014 that they didn’t write. Of course, most people sent over multiple picks rather than just one. The following group of stories includes everything from blog posts about comics to longform investigations. It shows the breadth of coverage CL accomplished in the past year and the versatility of the writers here. I’d be interested to know what our readers might add to this list from the past year, and what y’all would like to see more of in the future in the comments below. Here’s to 2015!
- Photo Joeff Davis/Design Wes Duvall
Debbie Michaud, Editor: My favorite part of my job is working with writers over a period of weeks and sometimes months to develop cover stories. We had some great ones this year, from Max’s oral history of the Rock*A*Teens to Rodney, Gavin, Christina, and Dustin’s work on “Straight Outta Stankonia” to “Body Politic,” Rodney’s smart, compelling, and fresh look at the economics and gender politics behind ATL strip clubs. (I’m already listing too many.) But my favorite story is probably the immigrant photo essay Joeff Davis made for our July 4 issue. This was a verrrry last minute idea I had to fill a cover hole and Joeff jumped at the opportunity. In about a week, amid everything else he was doing, he made time to scout, interview, and photograph a diverse group of Atlantans. The result was an incredibly personal look at the complex range of people and experiences that make up Atlanta. On a very tight deadline nonetheless. Shout out to Thomas Wheatley for the smart intro for that feature.
I also really loved Jennifer Zyman’s Kimball House review!
Meagan Mastriani, Digital Editor: This is tough, but Rodney’s cover “Searching for Sweet Auburn” is an all-time favorite of mine. It has everything you want in a story: engaging characters, powerful imagery, and compelling personal narratives framed by a larger (well-researched) social and historical context. It raises important questions about redevelopment, seeks answers, and then questions those answers. It leaves you thinking (and feeling).
Chad Radford, Music Editor: I liked reading “How Sally Bethea cleaned up Atlanta’s water.”
Max Blau, Staff Writer: There were a lot of stories I loved from CL staffers and contributors this year (in chronological order): Joeff Davis’ Clermont Hotel photos, Matt Garbett’s “Atlanta’s not a world-class city” column, Stephanie Dazey’s piece on the history of Atlanta’s farmers markets, and Thomas Wheatley’s HIV reporting. But the story that I liked the most had to be Rodney Carmichael’s piece “Meet the Babymaker” that looked at the lives of Alana Thompson and Tonya Allen, a same-sex couple who went through the long and (technically) illegal process of artificial insemination. The two did so in a state where gay marriage is illegal, yet where family values are traditionally embraced. His story humanized their relatively simple desire to start a family and how it became far more complicated than it should ever be.
? ? ?
Thomas Wheatley, News Editor: I have tremendous love for many many stories that were published this year but I have to bow my head to the Outkast cover, “Straight Outta Stankonia.”
Runner-up is Dasher, by Max.
Gavin Godfrey, Culture Editor: Super Visions blog by Ed Hall. Smart, snarky pop culture analysis centered around one man’s love/hate/obsession for comic books. I don’t think anyone else in ATL could write this blog. It was meant for Ed.
Brigid Choi’s feature on SMITE gaming tournament. Who knew ATL was ground zero for the lucrative gaming industry? Well we do now.
Rodney’s story about reclaiming ATL with fashion that led to Clay “Fuck Cobb County” Bolton getting fired from GPB. The follow-up interview was equally as epic.
Joeff Davis, Photo Editor: My favorite story of the year was Wyatt’s series about gun violence in Atlanta. Wyatt set out to write an obituary for every single murder resulting from gun violence that took place in Atlanta within a week of a person’s death. He would go to the closest relative’s house and interview them about the life the person lived. What emerged was a beautiful portrait of a real person, which humanized folks who normally just get a statistic or a harsh line on the 10 o’clock news as their obituary. Wyatt worked in neighborhoods that rarely get this kind of real media treatment. Wyatt’s stories were done through some extremely difficult reporting in difficult situations and what emerged I felt was a truly untold story of Atlanta and America. Unfortunately Wyatt left Creative Loafing before this story could truly be told as we only covered 2 victims stories before he stopped working at CL.
Rodney Carmichael, Senior Writer: It’s impossible to pick just one. But I have to give major kudos to Max for his profile on Dasher lead Kylee Kimbrough. I’m a sucker for a well-told story and the way he contextualized her backstory in a way that revealed her desire to succeed as a musician was pretty thorough. Most music writers nowadays tend to be strongest in one lane or the other — writing about people or writing about music. Rarely does one writer have the empathy it takes to draw out someone’s challenged past and the amount of music knowledge it takes to make that artist’s progression plain to non-technical listeners. He handled a sensitive subject without sensationalizing it and made me want to listen by the end, which is always the true test.
I really don’t know how T. Wheatley manages to serve as news editor, institutional memory bank and resident funny bone of CL while simultaneously producing in-depth cover stories on topics it would take some (read: me) months to parse out. Two in particular this year, on unexplained deaths in Georgia prisons and HIV/AIDS ravaging Atlanta’s black gay community, were complex, often-ignored issues. And he covered both in a way that gave voice to the voiceless and challenged people in power. If that ain’t the job of an alt-weekly in 2014, I don’t know what is.