Newspaper Page Text
SUSTAINABILITY
Giving thanks for anniversaries and a free press
Given my
birthdate, its
no surprise that
I’m “old school”
when it comes to
keeping files of
news clippings.
My young staff at
Chattahoochee
Riverkeeper (CRK)
never understood why I thought I needed to
have hard copies of the articles published about
our river advocacy work “It’s in your computer
files or searchable on the internet,” they’d say. I’d
just smile and keep filing the paper.
I have a five-inch ring binder filled
with print media from the 1990s and
2000s covering CRK’s years-long battle to
force the city of Atlanta to stop dumping
sewage into the river and neighborhood
streams. When I wrote my book (“Keeping
the Chattahoochee”), the binder was
instrumental in helping me reconstruct the
chronology of the twists and turns of that
issue. Few of the old articles were digitally
archived. I felt enormously vindicated for
being a hard copy hoarder.
Persisting and Growing
Not surprisingly, I also have a file of my
monthly columns written over the past nine
years for Atlanta Intown: paper copies I can
read while holding them in my hands. Yeah,
old school. I rifled through the columns this
week, proud to be a part of the team that
monthly produces hyperlocal and eclectic
stories about people, places, and issues—and
has done so for the past thirty years. FFappy
30th Anniversary to us and all of you readers!
Collin Kelley, Intown’s editor, has been a
dream to work with over the years. FFe puts
up with my (always) last-minute submissions
and lets me write about any environmental
topic I choose. In more than 100 columns,
I’ve covered hurricanes, fireflies, parks, the
climate crisis, Atlanta’s tree canopy, the
Okefenokee, my father’s garden, forever
chemicals, pandemic grief and nature,
microbeads, fatbergs, negative ions, rainwater
harvesting, and the local food movement—
to name a few.
Not for the first time, I realize how lucky
I am to be able to write for this respected
paper, now part of the growing Rough
Draft Atlanta family of publications. Four
years ago, Keith Pepper became Intown’s
publisher. FFe transitioned the monthly
print community newspaper into a digital-
first media organization and leveraged
partnerships throughout the city to help
people make connections—for work and
entertainment.
Free Speech, Open Government
On Oct. 21,1 received one of the highest
honors in my career when the Georgia First
Amendment Foundation presented me with
the Charles Weltner Freedom of Information
Award. The foundation, which advocates
for government transparency, free speech
rights, and access to public information, is
also celebrating its 30th
anniversary this year—
as is Chattahoochee
Riverkeeper. Clearly,
1994 was a great year
for start-ups!
When I accepted
the award, I told the
audience that the
success of CRK’s
advocacy depends on
two essential groups
of professionals:
investigative journalists
and public interest
environmental
lawyers with access to
government records.
Without them, we
would not have
been able to tackle,
much less win, our
toughest battles. Our
accomplishments have
depended on our ability
to exercise our right to
free speech, our ability
to access and review
information held by public agencies, and
the press exercising its right to publish these
facts.
Uncensored information about the
world around us and opinion pieces—even
and especially those that are critical—help
ensure public policy decisions that are fair,
democratic, inclusive, and accountable.
FFard-working journalists (print, radio,
television, and social media) help uncover
the inequities in our society, corruption,
and activities that threaten our families
and communities. Their independence is
fundamental to democracy and must be
defended.
Shining a Light
During my years with CRK, it wasn’t
hard to find stories to illustrate why the
overhaul of the city’s sewer system was
crucial, or to find good reporters, willing
publishers, and graphic illustrations of those
problems and many others.
In the late 1990s, an Associated Press
reporter joined us on a river patrol. It was
a lovely day on the water, until the city
accidentally spilled 800,000 gallons of raw
sewage into the river, literally in front of our
boat. That story was carried in news outlets
around the Southeast for weeks; it helped
convince the public and elected officials that
something really needed to be done. When
our government agencies and officials fail
to do their jobs to safeguard us from the
impacts of dirty air, contaminated water, and
spoiled land, citizens often have no other
place to turn than the press to shine a light
on serious problems.
In early June this year, businesses,
neighborhoods, hotels, and hospitals in
Atlanta’s central core suffered nearly a week
without water, when the city’s aging pipes
burst. An eye-opening (and mind-boggling)
investigative report by the Atlanta Journal-
Constitution recently revealed the ongoing
risk to the entire drinking water system. For
years, city employees had failed to maintain
the thousands of shut-off valves buried
underground; several failed, creating multiple
cascading breaks. The reporter filed nearly a
dozen open-records requests, seeking a clear
accounting of how the city maintains and
tests its shut-off values; officials could not
provide one.
As the saying goes: “Sunlight in the best
disinfectant.” In other words, people usually
perform to a better standard when they know
their behavior is being observed. It’s human
nature. Accurate, truthful journalists are our
guardians; they assemble and verify facts and
then work to convey a fair account of their
meaning. In this post-truth era of fake news
and alternative facts, critical thinking and
news literacy are more important than ever.
Thank you Atlanta Intown for three
decades of journalistic integrity, important
news, and wonderful stories about our
community.
2024s \NEhTUER RECIPIENT, FOUNDING
DIRECTOR Of CWWOCUEE RIVERKEEPER,
SALLY BETHEA I.. '
Detail of award-winning Atlanta Journal-Constitution
cartoonist Mike Luckovich’s cartoon for Sally.
ABOVE THE
WATERLINE
Sally Bethea
18 | NOVEMBER 2024
ROUGHDRAFTATLANTA.COM
