It goes without saying that Waffle Houses have a place in the heart of most Georgians, whether nestled in their souls or lodged in their arteries. As such, the restaurant has seen a number of strange occurrences, usually late at night, which have left the Norcross-based chain scattered, smothered, and covered across the front page.
I bring this up because one such occurrence took place this week. Christopher Daniel “Little Houdini” Gay, a prisoner being transported through Georgia, escaped from police when his escorting officer stopped at a Waffle House in Kennesaw. Nearby Kennesaw State University was put on lockdown for several hours as Cobb County police unsuccessfully searched for Gay, who was noted for his history of escaping police captivity. The publishing of his extensive rap sheet cemented his status as a folk hero at Kennesaw State.
In the spirit of such antics, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution compiled a list in Thursday’s paper of bizarre events taking place at local Waffle Houses. I would imagine that the editors were going for a humorous angle, as the bizarre tales of weddings, funerals, and general crimes committed at the world’s leading server of T-bone steaks left me in stitches. I would not normally support the use of sarcasm or injecting the writer’s opinion into stories, but I feel that in this case it was effective and warranted. Particularly so was the line, “No word on how four people, even drunk, can spend $100 in a [Waffle House].”
Although it is unusual to find humor outside columnists or blogs, it was refreshing to see the AJC not taking itself too seriously. Readers enjoy light-hearted stories, and I feel the inclusion of such a humorous Waffle House tale (to which many readers can probably relate) was a good choice by the AJC.
That said, there is one big mistake that is unacceptable in any news story….the dreaded fact error. Looking through writer Phil Kloer’s timeline, I felt like something was amiss. Upon following up, I found that Kid Rock’s arrest at a Dekalb County Waffle House occurred in October 2007, NOT October 2008. Although this mistake in no way treads into the dangerous territory of libel, it does stand as an example of poor research and worse editing. If I could catch that error, I feel like someone paid to catch errors should be able to do so as well.
-Michael Brazeal
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Michael,
ReplyDeleteNice catch on the Kid Rock error. It just shows that if you're not paying attention, things can slip through. It diminishes the credibility of the whole timeline, because how can we be sure the other facts are right?
You're also right in pointing out that someone made a good call to add this feature to the "Little Houdini" coverage. This is the kind of creative and interesting journalism that hopefully can save at least some newspapers from the fate of the Rocky Mountain News. (Except that the Rocky did this kind of creative journalism, too.)
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ReplyDeleteMichael,
ReplyDeleteI agree that in most circumstances, the use of sarcasm isn't the best route to go, but in the article you examined I think it was appropriate too. It would've caught my attention amongst the normally dreary and depressing stories in the paper. The story did address the crime "Little Houdini" committed, but it wasn't a typical crime story by any means.
I am a little annoyed that the AJC chose to downplay Gay's crime so much. While I did like the use of humor, I think the AJC should have at least provided a litle more information about the crime that Houdini committed and his past records in the article. While the AJC addressed his record in another article a few days before, I believe they downplayed his wrongdoings and made him, like you said, a "folk hero."
Don't get me wrong, I do find Gay's foolish acts amusing, if not insanely courageous. I don't think I would have what it takes to steal a cop car or a tour bus. That's impressive.
However, regardless of whether or not Gay was committing crime after crime to see his dying mother, I don't really buy his sincerity.
Maybe it's me, but I think that stealing a tour bus to see a Nascar race shortly after seeing his mother just proves his stupidity and lack of love for that matter.
Lastly, I completely agree with you on the fact error mistake. By now, the AJC should be able to catch this errors.
Mike,
ReplyDeleteWhen I first heard about Gay escaping a police car at a Waffle House in Georgia I thought it was funny. What caught my attention was that it was while the police officer went inside to put his order in. I can understand the light-hearted writing of the article because of the circumstance, but it's still serious.
The story breaks from the everyday doom and gloom stories but what gets me is that the man hasn't been caught yet. He's still out there somewhere and based on his criminal record he might steal a tractor and visit Graceland.
However, the fact that he escaped again is very serious and although the story is different from the norm I think that the public still needs to be cautious. The AJC might have given more detailed information in an earlier article and this one was just a follow up, allowing for more humor. Either way I think a light-hearted, informative article works well.
Nice catch on the Kid Rock story, most people would ignore that part. I guess that's part of being an editor and improving everything around us.(Please pardon my Parks-cliche)
Michael,
ReplyDeleteFirst off, your post is really well written. Your opening sentence is very creative! I think you make a really good point here. The story about the man who escaped, "Little Houdini," followed by a humorous piece about Waffle House IS refreshing. You also make a good point because we are always talking about how to follow up on stories and expand on subjects previously published in the paper. I think the AJC did a good job of that, as well as bring some humor to the story. The mistake involving Kid Rock is obviously not good. Fact checking is crucial and they obviously let this mistake get through.